Low-density hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels generated with an axicon lens

R. J. Shalloo, C. Arran, A. Picksley, A. Von Boetticher, L. Corner, J. Holloway, G. Hine, J. Jonnerby, H. M. Milchberg, C. Thornton, R. Walczak, S. M. Hooker

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Abstract

We demonstrate optical guiding of high-intensity laser pulses in long, low-density hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized (HOFI) plasma channels. An axicon lens is used to generate HOFI plasma channels with on-axis electron densities as low as ne(0)=1.5×1017 cm-3 and matched spot sizes in the range 20 μ40 μm. Control of these channel parameters via adjustment of the initial cell pressure and the delay after the arrival of the channel-forming pulse is demonstrated. For laser pulses with a peak axial intensity of 4×1017 W cm-2, highly reproducible, high-quality guiding over more than 14 Rayleigh ranges is achieved at a pulse repetition rate of 5 Hz, limited by the available channel-forming laser and vacuum pumping system. Plasma channels of this type would seem to be well suited to multi-GeV laser wakefield accelerators operating in the quasilinear regime.

Original languageEnglish
Article number041302
JournalPhysical Review Accelerators and Beams
Volume22
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 10 2019

Funding

This work was supported by the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC UK) [Grants No. ST/J002011/1, No. ST/P002048/1, No. ST/M50371X/1, No. ST/N504233/1, and No. ST/R505006/1]; the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [Studentship No. EP/N509711/1]; and the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres [Grant No. VH-VI-503]. This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under Grants No. FA8655-13-1-2141 and No. FA9550-18-1-7005. This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 653782. G. H. and H. M. M. were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No. DESC0015516), Department of Homeland Security (Grant No. 2016DN077ARI104), National Science Foundation (Grant No. PHY1619582), and AFOSR (Grants No. FA9550-16-10121 and No. FA9550-16-10284).

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