Laser wakefield acceleration

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA): While the intense laser pulses expel electrons from its  propagation axis, the heavier ions remain quasi-stationary. Collectively, they re-attract the expelled plasma electrons and thus form co-propagating “bubble”-like structures trailing in the wake of the driving laser pulse. These plasma waves provide accelerating and focusing electric fields with amplitudes of tens or even hundreds of Gigavolt-per-metre, and bubble sizes of typically few tens of µm, which can be tuned by the plasma electron density and associated plasma frequency and wavelength. Electrons injected or captured into such plasma wakefields therefore are accelerated at rates ~1000 times larger than in conventional particle accelerators, and constitute beams with typical durations of only few femtoseconds, and currents in the multi-kA range.  

Laser wake field acceleration: the highly non-linear broken-wave regime, A. Pukhov & J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, Applied Physics B vol. 74, 355–361 (2002)

Generation of Quasimonoenergetic Electron Bunches with 80-fs Laser Pulses, B. Hidding .. G. Pretzler et al., Physical Review Letters 96, 105004 (2006)

Particle and x-ray generation by irradiation of gaseous and solid targets with a 100 TW laser pulse, O. Willi .. B. Hiding .. G. Pretzler, A. Pukhov, M. Büscher et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 51, 124049 (2009)