Beam quality requirements for the Ion-Channel Laser

TL;DR

This paper establishes the electron beam quality criteria necessary for exponential amplification in the ion-channel laser, emphasizing the importance of controlling energy and wiggler parameter spreads, supported by theoretical analysis and simulations.

Contribution

It provides new quantitative beam quality requirements for ion-channel lasers, including the effects of radiation diffraction, validated through simulations.

Findings

Beam energy and wiggler parameter spreads must be limited.

Derived spread limits depend on the Pierce parameter.

Simulations confirm theoretical predictions.

Abstract

In this paper, we determine the electron beam quality requirements to obtain exponential radiation amplification in the ion-channel laser, where a relativistic electron beam wiggles in a focusing ion-channel that can be created in a wakefield accelerator. The beam energy and wiggler parameter spreads should be limited. Those spread limits are functions of the Pierce parameter, which is calculated here without neglecting the radiation diffraction. Two dimensional and three dimensional simulations of the self-consistent ion-channel laser confirm our theoretical predictions.