Wakefield generation and electron acceleration via propagation of radially polarized laser pulses in homogeneous plasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates how radially polarized laser pulses in homogeneous plasma generate stronger wakefields and accelerate electrons more effectively than linearly polarized pulses, using analytical methods validated by simulations.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical framework for wakefield generation with radially polarized lasers and compares results with linear polarization, demonstrating enhanced electron acceleration.

Findings

Radially polarized pulses produce significantly higher wakefield amplitudes.

Electron energy gain is greater with radially polarized laser pulses.

Analytical results are validated by particle-in-cell simulations.

Abstract

The paper presents a study of wakefield generation and electron injection via propagation of radially polarized laser pulses in homogeneous pre-ionized plasma. The analytical study is based on Lorentz force and continuity equations. Perturbation technique and quasi-static approximation are used for evaluating the generated longitudinal wakefields. Trapping and acceleration of electrons are examined by injecting a test electron in the generated wakefields. The results are compared with those obtained via linearly polarized laser pulses. The validation of analytical results is performed using the Fourier-Bessel particle-in-cell (FBPIC) simulation code. It is seen that there is a significant enhancement in amplitude of the longitudinal wakefield generated and electron energy gain via radially polarized laser pulses as compared to linearly polarized laser pulse case.