Electron Beam Production with an Ultra Short and Intense Laser Pulse: A New Tool for Scientists

Victor Malka (1) , Sven Fritzler (1) , E. Lefebvre (2) , K. Krushelnick (3) , S.P.D Mangles (3) , Z. Najmudin (3) , B. Walton (3) , A.E. Dangor (3)

1 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
2 DPTA - Département de Physique Théorique et Appliquée
3 Blackett Laboratory

By focusing a 10 Hz, 30 TW, 30 fs laser beam onto a gas jet, it is now possible to produce an ultra short and high quality electron beam with a maximum energy of up to 200 MeV. The gas is instantaneously ionized by the laser electric field and transformed into plasma, in which accelerating electric fields of the order of 1 TV/m have been generated in the non-linear regime. Some applications of this attractive and compact electron source are presented.

Domains: Plasma Physics [physics.plasm-ph]

Victor Malka, Sven Fritzler, E. Lefebvre, K. Krushelnick, S.P.D Mangles, et al.. Electron Beam Production with an Ultra Short and Intense Laser Pulse: A New Tool for Scientists. Physica Scripta, 2004, 2004 (T107), pp.141. ⟨10.1238/Physica.Topical.107a00141⟩. ⟨hal-00570398⟩