Teravolt-per-meter plasma wakefields from low-charge, femtosecond electron beams

J. B. Rosenzweig; G. Andonian; P. Bucksbaum; M. Ferrario; S. Full; A. Fukusawa; E. Hemsing; M. Hogan; P. Krejcik; P. Muggli; G. Marcus; A. Marinelli; P. Musumeci; B. O'Shea; C. Pellegrini; D. Schiller; G. Travish

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2011.01.073

arXiv · 1002.1976

Teravolt-per-meter plasma wakefields from low-charge, femtosecond electron beams

J. B. Rosenzweig·G. Andonian·P. Bucksbaum·M. Ferrario·S. Full·A. Fukusawa·E. Hemsing·M. Hogan·P. Krejcik·P. Muggli·G. Marcus·A. Marinelli·P. Musumeci·B. O'Shea·C. Pellegrini·D. Schiller·G. Travish

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Abstract

Recent initiatives in ultra-short, GeV electron beam generation have focused on achieving sub-fs pulses for driving X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) in single-spike mode. This scheme employs very low charge beams, which may allow existing FEL injectors to produce few-100 as pulses, with high brightness. Towards this end, recent experiments at SLAC have produced ~2 fs rms, low transverse emittance, 20 pC electron pulses. Here we examine use of such pulses to excite plasma wakefields exceeding 1 TV/m. We present a focusing scheme capable of producing ~200 nm beam sizes, where the surface Coulomb fields are also ~TV/m. These conditions access a new regime for high field atomic physics, allowing frontier experiments, including sub-fs plasma formation for wake excitation.

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J. B. Rosenzweig, G. Andonian, P. Bucksbaum, M. Ferrario, S. Full, A. Fukusawa, E. Hemsing, M. Hogan, P. Krejcik, P. Muggli, G. Marcus, A. Marinelli, P. Musumeci, B. O'Shea, C. Pellegrini, D. Schiller, G. Travish. 2010-02-09. Teravolt-per-meter plasma wakefields from low-charge, femtosecond electron beams. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2011.01.073

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