arXiv subjects

Liangliang Ji

Publications and source records attributed to Liangliang Ji.

43 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Relativistic laser driven electron accelerator using micro-channel plasma targets

We present an experimental demonstration of the efficient acceleration of electrons beyond 60 MeV using micro-channel plasma targets. We employed a high-contrast, 2.5 J, 32 fs short pulse laser interacting with a 5 μm inner diameter, 300 μm long micro-channel plasma target. The micro-channel was aligned to be collinear with the incident laser pulse, confining the majority of the laser energy within the channel. The measured electron spectrum showed a large increase of the cut-off energy and slope temperature when compared to that from a 2 μm flat Copper target, with the cutoff energy enhanced by over 2.6 times and the total energy in electrons >5 MeV enhanced by over 10 times. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations confirm efficient direct laser acceleration enabled by the novel structure as the dominant acceleration mechanism for the high energy electrons. The simulations further reveal the guiding effect of the channel that successfully explains preferential acceleration on the laser/channel axis observed in experiments. Finally, systematic simulations provide scalings for the energy and charge of the electron pulses. Our results show that the micro-channel plasma target is a promising electron source for applications such as ion acceleration, Bremsstrahlung X-ray radiation, and THZ generation.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2016

Generation of Gamma-ray Beam with Orbital Angular Momentum in the QED Regime

We propose a scheme to generate gamma-ray photons with an orbital angular momentum (OAM) and high energy simultaneously from laser-plasma interactions by irradiating a circularly polarized Laguerre-Gaussian laser on a thin plasma target. The spin angular momentum and OAM are first transferred to electrons from the driving laser photons, and then the OAM is transferred to the gamma-ray photons from the electrons through quantum radiation. This scheme has been demonstrated using three-dimensional quantum electrodynamics particle-in-cell simulation. The topological charge, chirality and carrier-envelope phase of the short ultra-intense vortex laser can be revealed according to the pattern feature of the energy density of radiated photons.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2016

Enhancement on Laser Intensity and Proton Acceleration Using Micro-tube Plasma Lens Targets

A hollow cylindrical micron-scale structure is proposed to enhance and manipulate the laser plasma interaction. It is shown through 3-D particle-in-cell simulations that the incident laser pulse intensity is enhanced within the tube. A detailed study of the intensification optimizes the tube dimensions and provides a characterization of the in-tube intensity. By coupling the micro-tube plasma lens to a traditional flat interface, we show an increase in on-target intensity. We detail proton energy enhancement as a potential application of the micro-tube plasma lens target, where the tube structure acts to focus the light and provide additional electrons that enhance the accelerating sheath field.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Generation of Ultra-intense Gamma-ray Train by QED Harmonics

When laser intensity exceeds 10^22W/cm^2, photons with energy above MeV can be generated from high-order harmonics process in the laser-plasma interaction. We find that under such laser intensity, QED effect plays a dominating role in the radiation pattern. Contrast to the gas and relativistic HHG processes, both the occurrence and energy of gamma-ray emission produced by QED harmonics are random and QED harmonics are usually not coherent, while the property of high intensity and ultra-short duration is conserved. Our simulation shows that the period of gamma-ray train is half of the laser period and the peak intensity is 1.4e22W/cm^2. This new harmonic production with QED effects are crucial to light-matter interaction in strong field and can be verified in experiments by 10PW laser facilities in the near future.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2014

Positron acceleration in a hollow plasma channel up to TeV regime

We propose a plasma-based high-energy lepton accelerator, in which a weakly focusing plasma structure is formed near the beam axis. The structure preserves the emittance of the accelerated beam and produces low radiation losses. Moreover, the structure allows for a considerable decrease of the witness energy spread at the driver depletion stage.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Scheme for proton-driven plasma-wakefield acceleration of positively charged particles in a hollow plasma channel

A new scheme for accelerating positively charged particles in a plasma wakefield accelerator is proposed. If the proton drive beam propagates in a hollow plasma channel, and the beam radius is of order of the channel width, the space charge force of the driver causes charge separation at the channel wall, which helps to focus the positively charged witness bunch propagating along the beam axis. In the channel, the acceleration buckets for positively charged particles are much larger than in the blowout regime of the uniform plasma, and stable acceleration over long distances is possible. In addition, phasing of the witness with respect to the wave can be tuned by changing the radius of the channel to ensure the acceleration is optimal. Two dimensional simulations suggest that, for proton drivers likely available in future, positively charged particles can be stably accelerated over 1 km with the average acceleration gradient of 1.3 GeV/m.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Ion acceleration in "dragging field" of a light-pressure-driven piston

We propose a new acceleration scheme that combines shock wave acceleration (SWA) and light pressure acceleration (LPA). When a thin foil driven by light pressure of an ultra-intense laser pulse propagates in underdense background plasma, it serves as a shock-like piston, trapping and reflecting background protons to ultra-high energies. Unlike in SWA, the piston velocity is not limited by the Mach number and can be highly relativistic. Background protons can be trapped and reflected forward by the enormous "dragging field" potential behind the piston which is not employed in LPA. Our one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and analytical model both show that proton energies of several tens to hundreds of GeV can be obtained, while the achievable energy in simple LPA is below 10 GeV.

physics.plasm-ph↗