Surface‐wave acceleration tests using a laser‐driven electron injector

2008 
The combination of a CO2 laser and a ruled grating has been chosen to test high‐gradient acceleration concepts. A relativistic electron pulser having a photocathode driven by picosecond UV pulses, and sufficiently good emittance to inject into a laser accelerator, has been developed. Some peculiarities of laser photodiodes have been noted. Preparations are being made to study absorption of picosecond pulses of IR light by metal gratings. The energy spectra of electrons emitted will be measured. Such electrons may be a source of background in acceleration tests, may damp the accelerating fields, or may be accelerated themselves. Other accelerating schemes such as surface plasmons and the inverse Cherenkov effect can be studied with the same laser and injector. Wake plasmon acceleration will require development of a high‐power CO2 laser with pulse duration an order of magnitude shorter than the few‐picosecond pulses now available.
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