arXiv subjects

Johannes Thomas

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Thomas.

14 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Spin polarized proton beam generation from gas-jet targets by intense laser pulses

A method of generating spin polarized proton beams from a gas jet by using a multi-petawatt laser is put forward. With currently available techniques of producing pre-polarized monatomic gases from photodissociated hydrogen halide molecules and petawatt lasers, proton beams with energy ~ 50 MeV and ~ 80 % polarization are proved to be obtained. Two-stage acceleration and spin dynamics of protons are investigated theoretically and by means of fully self-consistent three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Our results predict the dependence of the beam polarization on the intensity of the driving laser pulse. Generation of bright energetic polarized proton beams would open a domain of polarization studies with laser driven accelerators, and have potential application to enable effective detection in explorations of quantum chromodynamics.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fixing E-field divergence in strongly nonlinear wakefields in homogeneous plasma

Available analytical wakefield models for the bubble and the blow-out regime of electron-plasma acceleration perfectly describe important features like shape, fields, trapping ratio, achievable energy, energy distribution and radial emittance. As we show, for wakefields with an extremely small amplitude these models fail to describe the accelerating electric field and its divergence in the wakefield rear. Since prominent parameter regimes like the Trojan horse regime of photocathode injection exhibit this feature, it is of great importance to work out analytical models that fix this problem; one possible model is introduced in this work. Using a phenomenological theory, we are able to better describe the divergence of the electric field and the bubble shape.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

A spin-filter for polarized electron acceleration in plasma wakefields

We propose a filter method to generate electron beams of high polarization from bubble and blow-out wakefield accelerators. The mechanism is based on the idea to identify all electron-beam subsets with low-polarization and to filter them out by an X-shaped slit placed right behind the plasma accelerator. To find these subsets we investigate the dependence between the initial azimuthal angle and the spin of single electrons during the trapping process. This dependence shows that transverse electron spins preserve their orientation during injection if they are initially aligned parallel or anti-parallel to the local magnetic field. We derive a precise correlation of the local beam polarization as a function of the coordinate and the electron phase angle. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, incorporating classical spin dynamics, show that the beam polarization can be increased from 35% to about 80% after spin filtering. The injected flux is strongly restricted to preserve the beam polarization, e.g. <1kA in Ref.[27]. This limitation is removed by employing the proposed filter mechanism. The robust of the method is discussed that contains drive beam fluctuations, jitters, the thickness of the filter and initial temperature. This idea marks an efficient and simple strategy to generate energetic polarized electron beams based on wakefield acceleration

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Finite-emittance Wigner crystals in the bubble regime

We study the influence of finite emittance electron bunches in the bubble regime of laser-driven wakefield acceleration onto the microscopic structure of the bunch itself. Using resilient backpropagation (Rprop) to find the equilibrium structure, we observe that for realistic and already observed emittances the previously found crystalline structures remain intact and are only widened marginally. Higher emittances lead to larger electron displacements within the crystal and finally its breaking.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Simulation of Polarized Beams from Laser-Plasma Accelerators

The generation of polarized particle beams still relies on conventional particle accelerators, which are typically very large in scale and budget. Concepts based on laser-driven wake-field acceleration have strongly been promoted during the last decades. Despite many advances in the understanding of fundamental physical phenomena, one largely unexplored issue is how the particle spins are influenced by the huge magnetic fields of plasma and, thus, how highly polarized beams can be produced. The realization of laser-plasma based accelerators for polarized beams is now being pursued as a joint effort of groups from Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), University of Crete (Greece), and SIOM Shanghai (China) within the ATHENA consortium. As a first step, we have theoretically investigated and identified the mechanisms that influence the beam polarization in laser-plasma accelerators. We then carried out a set of Particle-in-cell simulations on the acceleration of electrons and proton beams from gaseous and foil targets. We could show that intense polarized beams may be produced if pre-polarized gas targets of high density are employed. In these proceedings we further present that the polarization of protons in HT and HCl gas targets is largely conserved during laser wake-field acceleration, even if the proton energies enter the multi-GeV regime. Such polarized sources for electrons, protons, deuterons and $^{3}$He ions are now being built in Jülich. Proof-of-principle measurements at the (multi-)PW laser facilities PHELIX (GSI Darmstadt) and SULF (Shanghai) are in preparation.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2020

Scaling laws for the (de-)polarization time of relativistic particle beams in strong fields

The acceleration of polarized electrons and protons in strong laser and plasma fields is a very attractive option to obtain polarized beams in the GeV range. We investigate the feasibility of particle acceleration in strong fields without destroying an initial polarization, taking into account all relevant mechanisms that could cause polarization losses, i.e. the spin precession described by the T-BMT equation, the Sokolov-Ternov effect and the Stern-Gerlach force. Scaling laws for the (de-)polarization time caused by these effects reveal that the dominant polarization limiting effect is the rotation of the single particle spins around the local electromagnetic fields. We compare our findings to test-particle simulations for high energetic electrons moving in a homogeneous electric field. For high particle energies the observed depolarization times are in good agreement with the analytically estimated ones.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

The filamented electron bunch of the bubble regime

We present a theory for describing the inner structure of the electron bunch in the bubble regime starting from a random distribution of electrons inside the bubble and subsequently minimizing the system's energy. Consequently, we find a filament-like structure in the direction of propagation that is surrounded by various shells consisting of further electrons. If we specify a 2D initial structure, we observe a hexagonal structure for a high number of particles, corresponding to the close-packing of spheres in two dimensions. The two-dimensional structures are in agreement with the equilibrium slice model (ESM).

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2019

Polarized electron-beam acceleration driven by vortex laser pulses

We propose a new approach based on an all-optical set-up for generating relativistic polarized electron beams via vortex Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) laser-driven wakefield acceleration. Using a pre-polarized gas target, we find that the topology of the vortex wakefield resolves the depolarization issue of the injected electrons. In full three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, incorporating the spin dynamics via the Thomas-Bargmann Michel Telegdi equation, the LG laser preserves the electron spin polarization by more than 80% at high beam charge and flux. The method releases the limit on beam flux for polarized electron acceleration and promises more than an order of magnitude boost in peak flux, as compared to Gaussian beams. These results suggest a promising table-top method to produce energetic polarized electron beams.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Polarized Proton Beams from Laser-induced Plasmas

We report on the concept of an innovative source to produce polarized proton/deuteron beams of a kinetic energy up to several GeV from a laser-driven plasma accelerator. Spin effects have been implemented into the PIC simulation code VLPL to make theoretical predictions about the behavior of proton spins in laser-induced plasmas. Simulations of spin-polarized targets show that the polarization is conserved during the acceleration process. For the experimental realization, a polarized HCl gas-jet target is under construction using the fundamental wavelength of a Nd:YAG laser system to align the HCl bonds and simultaneously circular polarized light of the fifth harmonic to photo-dissociate, yielding nuclear polarized H atoms. Subsequently, their degree of polarization is measured with a Lamb-shift polarimeter. The final experiments, aiming at the first observation of a polarized particle beam from laser-generated plasmas, will be carried out at the 10 PW laser system SULF at SIOM/Shanghai.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Study of external electron injection and trapping in the blow-out regime

In this work we study electron side-injection and trapping in the blow-out regime in deep plasma channels. We analyze the maximum angle of injection, for which at least 90\% of the injected electrons are trapped. We discuss the dependence of this angle on the electrons' initial energy and their injection positions. In the scope of a semi-analytical blow-out model we show that the injection position is a less critical factor for trapping if electrons are injected into deep plasma channels. PIC simulations and analytical approximations support our results from the semi-analytical model.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

2D structures of electron bunches in relativistic plasma cavities

The spatial structure of an ultra-low emittance electron bunch in a plasma wakefield blowout regime is studied. The full Liénard-Wiechert potentials are considered for mutual inter-particle interactions in the framework of the equilibrium slice model (ESM). This model uses the quasi-static theory which allows to solve the Liénard-Wiechert potentials without knowledge of the electrons' history. The equilibrium structure we find is similar to already observed hexagonal lattices but shows topological defects. Scaling laws for interparticle distances are obtained from numerical simulations and analytical estimations.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

A non-linear theory for the bubble regime of plasma wake fields in tailored plasma channels

We introduce a first full analytical bubble and blow-out model for a radially inhomogeneous plasma in a quasi-static approximation. For both cases we calculate the accelerating and the focusing fields. In our model we also assume a thin electron layer that surrounds the wake field and calculate the field configuration within. Our theory holds for arbitrary radial density profiles and reduces to known models in the limit of a homogeneous plasma. From a previous study of hollow plasma channels with smooth boundaries for laser-driven electron acceleration in the bubble regime we know that pancake-like laser pulses lead to highest electron energies [Pukhov et al, PRL 113, 245003 (2014)]. As it was shown, the bubble fields can be adjusted to balance the laser depletion and dephasing lengths by varying the plasma density profile inside a deep channel. Now we show why the radial fields in the vacuum part of a channel become defocussing.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2014

Relativistic electron Wigner crystal formation in a cavity for electron acceleration

It is known that a gas of electrons in a uniform neutralizing background can crystallize and form a lattice if the electron density is less than a critical value. This crystallization may have two- or three-dimensional structure. Since the wake field potential in the highly-nonlinear-broken-wave regime (bubble regime) has the form of a cavity where the background electrons are evacuated from and only the positively charged ions remain, it is suited for crystallization of trapped and accelerated electron bunches. However, in this case, the crystal is moving relativistically and shows new three-dimensional structures that we call relativistic Wigner crystals. We analyze these structures using a relativistic Hamiltonian approach. We also check for stability and phase transitions of the relativistic Wigner crystals.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Temporal and spatial expansion of a multidimensional model for electron acceleration in the bubble regime

An extended analytical model for particle dynamics in fields of a highly-nonlinear plasma wake field (the bubble or blow out regime) is derived. A recently proposed piecewise model (Kostyukov et al., New J. Phys., {\bf 12}, 045009 (2010)) is generalized to include a time dependent bubble radius and full field solution in the acceleration direction. Incorporation of the cavity dynamics in the model is required to simulate the particle trapping properly. On the other hand, it is shown that the previously reported piecewise model does not reproduce the formation of a mono energetic peak in the particle spectrum. The mono energetic electron beams are recovered only when the full longitudinal field gradient is included in the model.

physics.plasm-ph↗