Effect of contrast ratio on electron beam stability in laser wakefield acceleration experiments
Author
Summary, in English
Laser wakefield accelerators offer the possibility of compact electron acceleration. However one of the key outstanding issues with the results reported to date is the electron beam stability. Experiments on two laser systems reveal that the contrast ratio between the ASE pedestal and main pulse is an important factor in determining the quality of the electron beam. With a high contrast ratio (10^8) the electron beam profile is a well collimated single beam having a low pointing instability (<10 mrad rms). With a lower contrast (10^6) the beam profile contains multiple beamlets which exhibit a large
pointing instability (~50 mrad rms). Ahigh contrast ratio not only improves the beam pointing stability (~6 mrad) but also stabilizes the electron beam energy reproducibility (5%).
pointing instability (~50 mrad rms). Ahigh contrast ratio not only improves the beam pointing stability (~6 mrad) but also stabilizes the electron beam energy reproducibility (5%).
Department/s
Publishing year
2006
Language
English
Pages
83-90
Publication/Series
Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Volume
48
Issue
12B
Full text
- Available as PDF - 311 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Topic
- Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0741-3335