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Investigating instabilities of long, intense laser pulses in plasma wakefield accelerators

  • Jiayang Yan
  • , Pietro Iapozzuto
  • , Mael Flament
  • , Chan Joshi
  • , Yichao Jing
  • , Prabhat Kumar
  • , Roman Samulvak
  • , Igor Pogorelsky
  • , Christina Swinson
  • , Marcus Babzien
  • , Karl Kusche
  • , Mikhail Polyanskiy
  • , Mikhail Fedurin
  • , Mark Palmer
  • , Warren B. Mori
  • , Rafal Zgadzaj
  • , James Welch
  • , Michael Downer
  • , Wei Lu
  • , Vladimir Litvinenko
  • Navid Vafaei-Najafabadi, Ligia Diana Amorim
  • Stony Brook University
  • University of California at Los Angeles
  • Brookhaven National Laboratory
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Tsinghua University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a promising method for reducing the cost and size of the state of the art and industrial accelerators. In the recent AE71 experimental campaign at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, a long (4 ps) powerful (300 GW) CO2 laser pulse was sent into a hydrogen gas to produce plasma wakefields. We analyzed the evolution of the laser numerically and found three distinct regions: Where the laser self-modulates, where it is transversely disrupted, and where it self-channels. The laser disruption process is similar to the hosing instability that occurs in particle-beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerators. Although hosing instability has been well studied for particle-driven acceleration, the similar instability for long laser pulses has not been clearly explained, and a technique to prevent it is still lacking. Our numerical simulations were done with Particle-In-Cell code OSIRIS. Here we show the impact that plasma ionization and laser focal position have on the interaction of the laser with the plasma in the three distinct regions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2018 IEEE Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, ACC 2018 - Proceedings
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781538677216
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2 2018
Event18th IEEE Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, ACC 2018 - Breckenridge, United States
Duration: Aug 12 2018Aug 17 2018

Publication series

Name2018 IEEE Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, ACC 2018 - Proceedings

Conference

Conference18th IEEE Advanced Accelerator Concepts Workshop, ACC 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityBreckenridge
Period08/12/1808/17/18

Keywords

  • hosing instability
  • Laser wakefield acceleration

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