Enhancement of Electron Energy to the Multi-GeV Regime by a Dual-Stage Laser-Wakefield Accelerator Pumped by Petawatt Laser Pulses

TLDR

Laser‑wakefield acceleration promises compact multi‑GeV electron beams by exploiting the enormous field gradients of intense laser pulses, but beam energy and quality have been limited by laser power and target interaction; recent petawatt laser development now enables new capabilities. The authors aim to demonstrate a substantial rise in laser‑driven electron energy to the multi‑GeV regime using a 30‑fs, 1‑PW laser system. They employ a dual‑stage laser‑wakefield acceleration scheme—an injector followed by an accelerator—to elevate electron energies beyond 3 GeV with a single petawatt pulse. Three‑dimensional particle‑in‑cell simulations confirm that the dual‑stage accelerator driven by petawatt pulses produces multi‑GeV electrons.

Abstract

Laser-wakefield acceleration offers the promise of a compact electron accelerator for generating a multi-GeV electron beam using the huge field gradient induced by an intense laser pulse, compared to conventional rf accelerators. However, the energy and quality of the electron beam from the laser-wakefield accelerator have been limited by the power of the driving laser pulses and interaction properties in the target medium. Recent progress in laser technology has resulted in the realization of a petawatt (PW) femtosecond laser, which offers new capabilities for research on laser-wakefield acceleration. Here, we present a significant increase in laser-driven electron energy to the multi-GeV level by utilizing a 30-fs, 1-PW laser system. In particular, a dual-stage laser-wakefield acceleration scheme (injector and accelerator scheme) was applied to boost electron energies to over 3 GeV with a single PW laser pulse. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations corroborate the multi-GeV electron generation from the dual-stage laser-wakefield accelerator driven by PW laser pulses.