Physics Colloquium: Manipulating Electrons with Intense Laser Pulses

Abstract:

Laser Plasma Accelerators (LPA) rely on the control of the electrons motion with intense laser pulses [1]. The manipulation of electrons with intense laser pulses allows a fine mapping of the longitudinal and radial components of giant electric fields that can be optimized for accelerating charged particle or for producing X rays. To illustrate the beauty of laser plasma accelerators I will show, how by changing the density profile of the gas target, one can improve the quality of the electron beam, its stability [2] and its energy gain [3], or by playing with the radial field one can reduce its divergence [4]. I’ll then show how by controlling the quiver motion of relativistic electrons intense and bright X-rays beam are produced in a compact and elegant way [5,6]. Finally I’ll give some examples of applications [7].

References:

[1] V. Malka, Phys. of Plasmas 19, 055501 (2012).

[2] E. Guillaume et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 155002 (2015).

[3] C. Thaury Scientific Report, 10.1038, srep16310, Nov. 9 (2015)

[4] C. Thaury et al., Nature Comm. 6, 6860 (2015)

[5] K. Ta Phuoc et al., Nature Photonics 6, 308-311 (2012).

[6] S. Corde et al., Review of Modern Phys. 85 (2013)

[7] I. Andriyash et al., Nature Comm. 5, 4736 (2014)

Event Organizer: Prof. Yoram Dagan