Plasma optics improving plasma accelerators

Abstract

Plasma accelerators driven by high-power lasers can provide high-energy electron beams on a dramatically smaller scale than conventional radio-frequency accelerators. However, the performance of these accelerators is fundamentally limited by the diffraction of the laser. Laser-generated plasma waveguides can mitigate this problem and, combined with a controlled injection method for electrons, highlight the potential of novel laser-plasma optics.