Laser Driven Electron Acceleration in Vacuum, Gases and Plasmas,

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the important issues pertaining to laser acceleration in vacuum, neutral gases and plasmas. The limitations of laser vacuum acceleration as they relate to electron slippage, laser diffraction, material damage and electron aperture effects, are discussed. An inverse Cherenkov laser acceleration configuration is presented in which a laser beam is self guided in a partially ionized gas. Optical self guiding is the result of a balance between the nonlinear self focusing properties of neutral gases and the diffraction effects of ionization. The stability of self guided beams is analyzed and discussed. In addition, aspects of the laser wakefield accelerator are presented and laser driven accelerator experiments are briefly discussed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 19, 1996
Accession Number
ADA309330

Entities

People

  • Eric Esarey
  • J. Krall
  • Philip Sprangle

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Diffraction
  • Electric Fields
  • Electron Beams
  • Electron Density
  • Electron Energy
  • Electrons
  • Equations
  • Fluids
  • Gases
  • Ionization
  • Ionized Gases
  • Laser Beams
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Phase Velocity
  • Plasma Accelerators
  • Refractive Index

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Microelectronics