Speaker
Description
Plasma accelerators have delivered beams of sufficient quality to drive free electron lasers (FELs). However, greater resolution and, ultimately, control of the electron beam's six-dimensional phase space is needed to drive FELs consistently with sufficient gain at sub-micrometer wavelengths, as well as to address future challenges for laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs), such as staging. In particle-in-cell simulations, injection methods such as self-truncated ionization, tailored down-ramps and plasma photocathodes have shown promise for producing high brightness beams. However, single-shot measurement of the critical parameters that are needed to quantify the correlated phase space remains elusive. Here we present recent experimental results taken at the DRACO laser system at HZDR using compact, single shot, coherent-transition-radiation diagnostics coupled with machine learning techniques to elucidate critical electron beam parameters. Employing both a spectrometer as well as a multi-spectral imaging system, we observe spectral-spatially encoded electron beam information, which, with in-house developed machine learning techniques, we are able to extract critical electron beam phase space information. We use this diagnostic feedback for our optimization of down-ramp and ionization injection LWFA regimes. Finally, we also comment on multi-beam features observed when using the LWFA electron beam to drive a wakefield in a second stage.
| Working group | WG5 |
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