Electron Sources from Plasmas

TL;DR

This paper reviews how laser-driven plasma wakefields generate relativistic electrons with broad energy spectra and discusses methods to improve beam quality for use in plasma accelerators.

Contribution

It introduces and discusses various mechanisms involving additional lasers or gas modifications to enhance electron beam quality in plasma wakefield acceleration.

Findings

Self-injection produces broad energy distributions.

Additional laser or gas techniques can improve beam quality.

Potential applications in plasma accelerators.

Abstract

Relativistic electrons are easily generated by self-injection when an intense laser drives a wakefield in a plasma, giving rise to wide electron energy distributions. Several mechanisms involving additional laser beams or different gas composition or distribution can be used to improve the electron beam quality. These mechanisms are introduced and discussed in the perspective of using laser driven electron sources as injectors for plasma accelerators.