Controlling the intensity distribution of laser pulses in the focal region is essential for optimizing optically generated plasma waveguides and enabling advanced plasma acceleration techniques, including dephasingless wakefield acceleration. Here, we present a method for programmatic structuring of the high-intensity focal region of a standard off-axis parabolic mirror, extending the length of this region well beyond the Rayleigh length and enabling control over the longitudinal intensity distribution. The theoretical framework is validated through numerical simulations and experimental measurements. Further, we demonstrate the use of this technique in an existing plasma accelerator system using readily available hardware components. Finally, we illustrate the potential application of this method to multi-GeV laser plasma acceleration and the generation of flying foci, research areas which would significantly benefit from improved programmatic structuring of high-intensity laser pulses.
Katherine R. Shaw, Rachel Sandquist, Cameron Fairclough
et al.
Abstract Microplastics accumulate in the environment but methods to extract particles from sediment for quantification and identification often lack accuracy and reproducibility. Existing methods vary greatly and many do not achieve adequate microplastic separation. During method development for extraction procedures, spike-recovery experiments (positive controls) are essential to ensure accurate and reproducible results from each sample matrix. Furthermore, the large variability in grain size and organic matter can affect the extraction of microplastics from the matrix. Scientists have used density separation to separate microplastics from matrices for decades, but apparatuses are often made of plastic, need to be custom made, and require multiple sample transfers from one apparatus to another. This study presents an affordable, easily accessible, and simple to use Density Separation Device (DSD) to remove plastics from deep-sea sediments. Eight polymers were spiked into replicates of environmental sediment, including six fragments: high density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS), nylon (PA6), and crumb rubber (CR) and two fibers: cellulose acetate (CA) and polyester (PEST). Two size classes of polymers were used: 100 μm to 300 μm and > 300 μm. Using a sodium polytungstate solution at a density of 1.9 g/mL and reflectance FTIR microscopy for particle identification, mean recoveries of all fragments exceeded 78% (CR: 92.7% ± 30.8%, PP: 78.4% ± 34.0%, HDPE: 93.8% ± 13.5%, PS: 86.9% ± 25.7%, PA6: 98.4% ± 63.2%, PVC: 100.0% ± 12.4%). Fiber recovery was much lower (PEST: 28.1% ± 28.1% and CA: 25.9% ± 17.3%) because they aggregated, passed through sieves vertically, or were obscured under other particles. The fragment recovery success, accessibility (available online, all parts under $200) and ease of use of this DSD should facilitate widespread use, thus helping to standardize sample preparation methods for microplastic metrology.
We show experimentally that an effect of motion of ions, observed in a plasma-based accelerator, depends inversely on the plasma ion mass. The effect appears within a single wakefield event and manifests itself as a bunch tail, occurring only when sufficient motion of ions suppresses wakefields. Wakefields are driven resonantly by multiple bunches, and simulation results indicate that the ponderomotive force causes the motion of ions. In this case, the effect is also expected to depend on the amplitude of the wakefields, experimentally confirmed through variations in the drive bunch charge.
The longitudinal dynamics of an intense high energy beam moving in a resonator cavity has been studied in some detail. Through the method of separation of variables and its obvious straightforward generalization, a solution of the Vlasov equation for the distribution function of an intense charged particle beam in the longitudinal direction has been obtained. The thus found Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal (BGK) equilibrium has been utilized to construct stationary wave patterns in the special case when the velocity distribution (energy error distribution) is Maxwellian. These are cnoidal wave patterns, showing rather intriguing and in a sense unexpected analogy between the equilibrium wave patterns in an intense charged particle beam and similar wave clusters originally observed in shallow water. Based on the hydrodynamic model, fully equivalent to the coupled nonlinear system of the Vlasov equation for the distribution function of an intense beam in the longitudinal direction and the equation for the resonator cavity potential, an amplitude equation in the most general form has been derived. A very interesting and important property of the nonlinear amplitude equation is the fact that it is of hyperbolic type (nonlinear wave equation with complex coefficients) in the entire interval of admissible values for the wave number except for a single critical point, in which it is of parabolic type (non-linear Schrodinger equation with complex coefficients).
Coherent light sources, such as free electron lasers, provide bright beams for biology, chemistry, physics, and advanced technological applications. Increasing the brightness of these sources requires progressively larger devices, with the largest being several km long (e.g., LCLS). Can we reverse this trend, and bring these sources to the many thousands of labs spanning universities, hospitals, and industry? Here we address this long-standing question by rethinking basic principles of radiation physics. At the core of our work is the introduction of quasi-particle-based light sources that rely on the collective and macroscopic motion of an ensemble of light-emitting charges to evolve and radiate in ways that would be unphysical when considering single charges. The underlying concept allows for temporal coherence and superradiance in fundamentally new configurations, providing radiation with clear experimental signatures and revolutionary properties. The underlying concept is illustrated with plasma accelerators but extends well beyond this case, such as to nonlinear optical configurations. The simplicity of the quasi-particle approach makes it suitable for experimental demonstrations at existing laser and accelerator facilities.
The paper presents the results of a study of the possibility of using the WKB approach to describe Inhomogeneous Travelling-Wave Accelerating Sections (ITWAS). This possibility not only simplifies the calculation, but also allows the use of simpler physical models of transient processes. Using the traveling wave concept simplifies the understanding of pulsed-excited ITWAS transients and the development of methods to mitigate their effect on beam parameters.
Paolo Tomassini, Francesco Massimo, Luca Labate
et al.
After the introduction of the ionization-injection scheme in Laser Wake Field Acceleration and of related high-quality electron beam generation methods as two-color or the Resonant Multi Pulse Ionization injection, the theory of thermal emittance by C. Schroeder et al, has been used to predict the beam normalised emittance obtainable with those schemes. In this manuscript we recast and extend such a theory, including both higher order terms in the polinomial laser field expansion and non polinomial corrections due to the onset of saturation effects in a single cycle. Also, a very accurate model for predicting the cycle-averaged $3D$ momentum distribution of the extracted electrons, including saturation and multi-process events, is proposed and tested. We show that our theory is very accurate for the selected processes of Kr$^{8^+\rightarrow10^+}$ and Ar$^{8^+\rightarrow10^+}$, resulting in a a maximum error below $1\%$ even in deep saturation regime. This highly accurate prediction of the beam phase-space can be implemented e.g., in laser-envelope Particle in Cell (PIC) or hybrid PIC-fluid codes, to correctly mimic the cycle-averaged momentum distribution without the need of resolving the intra-cycle dynamics. Finally, we introduce further spatial averaging with Gaussian longitudinal and transverse laser profiles, obtaining expressions for the whole-beam emittance that fits with Monte Carlo simulations in a saturated regime, too.
Earlier, the authors found a mechanism for the sequence of short relativistic electron bunches, which leads to resonant excitation of the wakefield, even if the repetition frequency of bunches differs from the plasma frequency. In this case, the synchronization of frequencies is restored due to defocusing of the bunches which get into the bad phases with respect to the plasma wave. However, in this case, the bunches are lost, which as a result of this do not participate in the excitation of the wakefield. In this paper, numerical simulation was used to study the dynamics of electron bunches and the excitation of the wakefield in a magnetized plasma by a long sequence of short bunches of relativistic electrons. When a magnetic field is used, the defocussed bunches return to the region of interaction with the field after a certain time. In this case, the electrons of the bunches, returning to the necessary phases of the field, participate in the excitation of the wakefield. Also, the use of a magnetic field leads to an increase of the frequency of the excited wave relative to the repetition frequency of bunches. The latter increases the time for maintaining the resonance and, consequently, leads to an increase of the amplitude of the excited wakefield.
One of the frontiers in electron scattering is to couple ultrafast temporal resolution with highly localized probes to investigate the role of microstructure on material properties. Here, taking advantage of the unprecedented average brightness of the APEX electron gun providing relativistic electron pulses at high repetition rates, we demonstrate for the first time the generation of ultrafast relativistic electron beams with picometer-scale emittance and their ability to probe nanoscale features on materials with complex microstructures. At the sample plane, the APEX beam is tightly focused by a custom in-vacuum lens system based on permanent magnet quadrupoles, and its evolution around the waist is tracked by a knife-edge technique, allowing accurate reconstruction of the beam shape and local density. We then use the focused beam to characterize a Ti-6 wt\% Al polycrystalline sample by correlating the diffraction and imaging modality, showcasing the capability to locate grain boundaries and map adjacent crystallographic domains with sub-micron precision. This work provides a new paradigm for ultrafast electron instrumentation, demonstrating the ability to generate relativistic beams with ultrasmall transverse phase space volumes enabling novel characterization techniques such as relativistic ultrafast electron nano-diffraction and ultrafast scanning transmission electron microscopy.
The established way of looking at special relativity is based on Einstein postulates: the principle of relativity and the constancy of the velocity of light. In the most general geometric approach to the theory of special relativity, the principle of relativity, in contrast to Einstein formulation, is only a consequence of the (pseudo-Euclidean) geometry of space-time. The space-time geometric approach deals with all possible choices of coordinates (clock synchronization conventions) of the chosen reference frames. In previous papers, we pointed out the very important role that the space-time geometric approach plays in accelerator engineering. The purpose of this paper is to provide a novel insight into the problem of aberration of light based on the space-time geometric approach. We will investigate the case of a plane-polarized light wave reflected from mirrors moving tangentially to its surface. It is generally believed that there is no aberration (deviation of the energy transport) for light reflected from mirrors moving transversely (also for light transmitted through a hole in the moving opaque screen or, consequently, through a moving open end of the telescope barrel). We show that this typical textbook statement is incorrect. The aberration of starlight seems to be one of the simplest phenomena of astronomical observations. The lack of symmetry, between the cases when either the source or detector is moving is shown clearly on the basis of the separation of binary stars. Such aberration is not observed. We have shown that the fact that we do not see myriads of widely separated binaries in wild gyration does not require any fundamental change of outlook, but it does require that aberration of "distant" stars should be treated in the framework of space-time geometric approach.
Dimitri Khaghani, Mathieu Lobet, Björn Borm
et al.
The interaction of micro- and nano-structured target surfaces with high-power laser pulses is being widely investigated for its unprecedented absorption efficiency. We have developed vertically aligned metallic micro-pillar arrays for laser-driven proton acceleration experiments. We demonstrate that such targets help strengthen interaction mechanisms when irradiated with high-energy-class laser pulses of intensities $\sim$ $10^{17-18}$ W/cm$^2$. In comparison with standard planar targets, we witness strongly enhanced hot-electron production and proton acceleration both in terms of maximum energies and particle numbers. Supporting our experimental results, two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show an increase in laser energy conversion into hot electrons, leading to stronger acceleration fields. This opens a window of opportunity for further improvements of laser-driven ion acceleration systems.
S. Y. Kalmykov, X. Davoine, I. Ghebregziabher
et al.
Photon engineering can be exploited to control the nonlinear evolution of the drive pulse in a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA), offering new avenues to tailor electron beam phase space on a femtosecond time scale. One promising option is to drive an LPA with an incoherent stack of two sub-Joule, multi-TW pulses of different colors. Slow self-compression of the bi-color optical driver delays electron dephasing, boosting electron beam energy without accumulation of a massive low-energy tail. The modest energy of the stack affords kHz-scale repetition rate at manageable laser average power. Propagating the stack in a preformed plasma channel induces periodic self-focusing in the trailing pulse, causing oscillations in the size of accelerating bucket. The resulting periodic injection generates, over a mm-scale distance, a train of GeV-scale electron bunches with 5D brightness exceeding $10^{17}$ A/m$^2$. This unconventional comb-like beam, with femtosecond synchronization and controllable energy spacing of components, emits, via Thomson scattering, a train of highly collimated gigawatt $γ$-ray pulses. Each pulse, corresponding to a distinct energy band between 2.5 and 25 MeV, contains over $10^6$ photons.