The wakefield generated in a plasma by incoherently combining a large number of low energy laser pulses (i.e., without constraining the pulse phases) is studied analytically and by means of fully self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations. The structure of the wakefield has been characterized and its amplitude compared with the amplitude of the wake generated by a single (coherent) laser pulse. We show that, in spite of the incoherent nature of the wakefield within the volume occupied by the laser pulses, behind this region, the structure of the wakefield can be regular with an amplitude comparable or equal to that obtained from a single pulse with the same energy. Wake generation requires that the incoherent structures in the laser energy density produced by the combined pulses exist on a time scale short compared to the plasma period. Incoherent combination of multiple laser pulses may enable a technologically simpler path to high-repetition rate, high-average power laser-plasma accelerators, and associated applications.
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Plasma wakefields driven by an incoherent combination of laser pulses: A path towards high-average power laser-plasma acceleratorsa)
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May 2014
Research Article|
May 27 2014
Plasma wakefields driven by an incoherent combination of laser pulses: A path towards high-average power laser-plasma acceleratorsa)
C. Benedetti;
C. Benedetti
b)
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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C. B. Schroeder;
C. B. Schroeder
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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E. Esarey;
E. Esarey
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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W. P. Leemans
W. P. Leemans
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
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Phys. Plasmas 21, 056706 (2014)
Article history
Received:
November 22 2013
Accepted:
January 06 2014
Citation
C. Benedetti, C. B. Schroeder, E. Esarey, W. P. Leemans; Plasma wakefields driven by an incoherent combination of laser pulses: A path towards high-average power laser-plasma accelerators. Phys. Plasmas 1 May 2014; 21 (5): 056706. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4878620
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