Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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P: Fachverband Plasmaphysik
P 24: Laser Plasmas I
P 24.3: Talk
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 14:30–14:45, SPA HS202
Ultra fast imaging of a laser wake field accelerator — •Alexander Sävert1, Stuart P.D. Mangles2, Michael Schnell1, Maria Nicolai1, Maria Reuter1, Matthew B. Schwab1, Jason M. Cole2, Max Möller1, Oliver Jäckel1,3, Kristjan Poder2, Gerhard G. Paulus1,3, Christian Spielmann1,3, Zulfikar Najmudin2, and Malte C. Kaluza1,3 — 1Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany — 2The John Adams Institute Imperial College, London, United Kingdom — 3Helmholtz Institut Jena, Jena, Germany
Ultra intense laser pulses are known to excite plasma waves with a relativistic phase velocity. By harnessing these waves it is possible to generate quasi-monoenergetic, ultra-short electron pulses with kinetic energies from 0.1 to 2 GeV by guiding the laser pulse over several Rayleigh lengths. To further improve the stability of these particle pulses and ultimately to be able to tailor the energy spectrum toward their suitability for various applications, the physics underlying the different acceleration scenarios need to be understood as completely as possible. To be able to resolve the acceleration process diagnostics well-suited for this plasma environment need to be designed and realized. By using sub-10 fs probe pulses we were able to freeze the transient accelerating structure in the plasma. We will present the first results of an experiment which was carried out with the 30 TW JETi Laser and a few cycle probe pulse at the Institute of Optics and Quantum Electronics Jena. The resulting snapshots show unprecedented details from the laser plasma interaction and allow a direct comparison to computer simulations.