Author: Lin, M.W.
Paper Title Page
WEPZ010 Modeling and Experimental Update on Direct Laser Acceleration 2787
 
  • I. Jovanovic, M.W. Lin
    Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
 
  Funding: This work is supported by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency under contract HDTRA1-11-1-0009.
Moderate-energy, high-repetition-rate electron beams are needed in a variety of applications such as those in security and medicine, while requiring that the acceleration be realized in a compact and relatively inexpensive package. Laser wakefield acceleration is an attractive technology which meets most of those requirements, but it requires the use of relatively high peak power lasers which do not scale readily to high repetition rates. We are developing the theoretical and experimental basis for advancing the science and technology of direct laser acceleration (DLA) of charged particles using the axial component of the electric field of a radially polarized intense laser pulse. DLA is an acceleration method which exhibits no threshold and is thus compatible with the use of lower peak power, but much higher repetition rate lasers. We are currently numerically investigating the conditions for quasi-phase-matched DLA of electrons in plasma waveguides and experimentally implementing the quasi-phase-matched waveguide structure in laser-produced plasmas.