Physical Review Special Topics. Accelerators and Beams (May 2002)

Simulation of electron postacceleration in a two-stage laser wakefield accelerator

  • A. J. W. Reitsma,
  • W. P. Leemans,
  • E. Esarey,
  • C. B. Schroeder,
  • L. P. J. Kamp,
  • T. J. Schep

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.5.051301
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 5
p. 051301

Abstract

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Electron bunches produced in self-modulated laser wakefield experiments usually have a broad energy distribution, with most electrons at low energy (1–3 MeV) and only a small fraction at high energy. We propose and investigate further acceleration of such bunches in a channel-guided resonant laser wakefield accelerator. Two-dimensional simulations with and without the effects of self-consistent beam loading are performed and compared. These results indicate that it is possible to trap about 40% of the injected bunch charge and accelerate this fraction to an average energy of about 50 MeV in a plasma channel of a few mm.