Dual-energy electron beams from a compact laser-driven accelerator

• Published in: Nature photonics 2019-04, Vol.13 (4), p.263-269
• Main Authors: Wenz, J., Döpp, A., Khrennikov, K., Schindler, S., Gilljohann, M. F., Ding, H., Götzfried, J., Buck, A., Xu, J., Heigoldt, M., Helml, W., Veisz, L., Karsch, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/624; 639/766/1960/1135; 639/766/1960/1137; 639/766/400/1106; 639/766/400/584; Applied and Technical Physics; Electron beams; Electrons; Energy; Experiments; Infrared lasers; Laser beams; Lasers; Photon beams; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Quantum Physics; Radiation sources
• ISSN: 1749-4885; 1749-4893; 1749-4893
• DOI: 10.1038/s41566-019-0356-z

Ultrafast pump–probe experiments open the possibility to track fundamental material behaviour, such as changes in electronic configuration, in real time. To date, most of these experiments are performed using an electron or a high-energy photon beam that is synchronized to an infrared laser pulse. Entirely new opportunities can be explored if not only a single, but multiple synchronized, ultrashort, high-energy beams are used. However, this requires advanced radiation sources that are capable of producing dual-energy electron beams, for example. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous generation of twin-electron beams from a single compact laser wakefield accelerator. The energy of each beam can be individually adjusted over a wide range and our analysis shows that the bunch lengths and their delay inherently amount to femtoseconds. Our proof-of-concept results demonstrate an elegant way to perform multi-beam experiments in the future on a laboratory scale. A laser-based scheme for the simultaneous generation of two temporally synchronized electron beams with individually adjustable energies offers new opportunities for ultrafast pump–probe experiments.