Linearly tapered discharge capillary waveguides as a medium for a laser plasma wakefield accelerator

Gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides are commonly used as media for plasma wakefield accelerators. We show that effective waveguides can be manufactured using a femtosecond laser micromachining technique to produce a linearly tapered plasma density, which enables the energy of the accelerator t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2012-01, Vol.100 (1), p.014106-014106-3
Main Authors: Abuazoum, S., Wiggins, S. M., Ersfeld, B., Hart, K., Vieux, G., Yang, X., Welsh, G. H., Issac, R. C., Reijnders, M. P., Jones, D. R., Jaroszynski, D. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BEAM-PLASMA SYSTEMS
CAPILLARIES
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC DISCHARGES
LASER BEAM MACHINING
LASER-PRODUCED PLASMA
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA GUNS
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
WAKEFIELD ACCELERATORS
WAVEGUIDES
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Summary:Gas-filled capillary discharge waveguides are commonly used as media for plasma wakefield accelerators. We show that effective waveguides can be manufactured using a femtosecond laser micromachining technique to produce a linearly tapered plasma density, which enables the energy of the accelerator to be enhanced significantly. A laser guiding efficiency in excess of 82% at sub-relativistic intensities has been demonstrated in a 40mm long capillary with a diameter tapering from 320 μ m to 270 μ m, which gives rise to an on-axis, time-averaged plasma density that varies from 1.0×10 18 cm −3 to 1.6×10 18 cm −3 .
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.3674309