Colliding ionization injection in a plasma wakefield accelerator
Published in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 2016
Abstract: A new scheme of generating high quality electron bunches via ionization injection triggered by a counter-propagating laser pulse inside a beam driven plasma wake is proposed and examined via two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. This scheme has two major advantages: first, the injection distance is easily tunable by varying the launching time or the focal position of the laser pulse; second, the electrons in each injected slice are released at nearly the same time. The normalized wake potential distribution and ionization level are analyzed, and the collision process between the laser pulse and the plasma wake is studied in detail. The scheme demonstrates excellent control over electron injection with potential applications for generating high-brightness, low-energy-spread electron beams in plasma-based accelerators.
Recommended citation: Yang Wan, Chaojie Zhang, Fei Li, Yipeng Wu, Jianfei Hua, Chi-Hao Pai, Wei Lu, Yuqiu Gu, Xinlu Xu, Chan Joshi, Warren B. Mori, "Colliding ionization injection in a plasma wakefield accelerator," Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 58, 034015 (2016).
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