Laser-driven pointed acceleration of electrons with preformed plasma lens

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates laser-driven electron acceleration and beam steering using a preformed plasma lens, enabling controlled electron beam direction and potential applications in object scanning and multi-stage acceleration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for electron beam pointing control via plasma density gradients created by laser-induced breakdown, supported by experimental and simulation data.

Findings

Achieved electron beam deflection up to 10 degrees.

Demonstrated stable electron acceleration with preserved beam charge and spectrum.

Supported by Particle-In-Cell and hydrodynamic simulations.

Abstract

The simultaneous laser-driven acceleration and angular manipulation of the fast electron beam is experimentally demonstrated. The bunch of multi-MeV energy charged particles is generated during the propagation of the femtosecond laser pulse through the near-critical plasma slab accompanied by plasma channeling. Plasma is formed by the controlled breakdown of a thin-tape target by a powerful nanosecond prepulse. The electron beam pointing approach is based on the refraction of a laser pulse in the presence of a strong radial density gradient in the breakdown of the tape with a small displacement of the femtosecond laser beam relative to the breakdown symmetry axis. A shift of several micrometers makes it possible to achieve beam deflection by an angle up to 10 degrees with acceptable beam charge and spectrum conservation. This opens up opportunities for in-situ applications for scanning objects with an electron beam and the multistage electron beam energy gain in consecutive laser accelerators without bulk magnetic optics for particles. Experimental findings are supported by numerical Particle-In-Cell calculations of laser-plasma acceleration and hydrodynamic simulations.