All-optical trapping and acceleration of heavy particles

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel all-optical method for trapping and accelerating heavy particles like ions and muons using counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies, enabling precise control over particle beams.

Contribution

It introduces a new scheme for particle acceleration that combines beat-wave structures with variable phase velocity, supported by theoretical analysis and 2D simulations.

Findings

The scheme effectively traps and accelerates heavy particles.

Simulations confirm robustness and controllability of the acceleration process.

Provides scaling laws for energy and charge of the particle beam.

Abstract

A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus allowing for trapping and acceleration of heavy particles, such as ions or muons. Fine control over the energy distribution and the total charge of the beam is obtained via tuning of the frequency variation. The acceleration scheme is described with a one-dimensional theory, providing the general conditions for trapping and scaling laws for the relevant features of the particle beam. Two-dimensional, electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulations confirm the validity and the robustness of the physical mechanism.