Two-chamber gas target for laser-plasma accelerator electron source

TL;DR

This paper introduces a two-chamber gas target for laser wakefield accelerators, focusing on design, modeling, and testing to improve electron beam stability and quality at higher repetition rates.

Contribution

It presents a novel two-chamber gas cell prototype with integrated flow, supported by fluid modeling and experimental assessment for ionisation injection applications.

Findings

Successful density profile shaping demonstrated

Target lifetime varies with material choice

Feasibility of high power operation outlined

Abstract

Exploring new target schemes for laser wakefield accelerators is essential to meet the challenge of increasing repetition rates while ensuring stability and quality of the produced electron beams. The prototyping of a two-chamber gas cell integrated into the beam line and operating in continuous gas flow is introduced and discussed in the frame of ionisation injection. We report the numerical fluid modeling used to assist the density profile shaping. We describe the test bench used for cell prototype assessment, in particular the plasma electron density and longitudinal distribution of species relevant for ionisation injection. The lifetime of the target key part is measured for different materials. Perspectives to high power operation are outlined.