Influence of realistic parameters on state-of-the-art LWFA experiments

TL;DR

This paper investigates how realistic plasma and laser parameters affect the performance of laser wakefield accelerators, revealing conditions that optimize electron energy gains and the impact of laser mode structures.

Contribution

It provides an analytical and numerical analysis of how non-ideal plasma densities and laser profiles influence electron acceleration, including the effects of higher order laser modes.

Findings

Longitudinal density fluctuations reduce electron energy.

Certain higher order laser modes can enhance energy gains.

Conditions to minimize density fluctuation effects are identified.

Abstract

We examine the influence of non-ideal plasma-density and non-Gaussian transverse laser-intensity profiles in the laser wakefield accelerator analytically and numerically. We find that the characteristic amplitude and scale length of longitudinal density fluctuations impacts on the final energies achieved by electron bunches. Conditions that minimize the role of the longitudinal plasma density fluctuations are found. The influence of higher order Laguerre-Gaussian laser pulses is also investigated. We find that higher order laser modes typically lead to lower energy gains. Certain combinations of higher order modes may, however, lead to higher electron energy gains.