Dr. Victor Malka (LOA - Palaiseau, France), An overview on electron acceleration with laser plasma accelerators (principle, results and applications)

Wednesday 27 Apr 2011, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Bucharest

In parallel to the development, control, and realization of high frequency superconducting cavities by the mainstream accelerator community, smaller groups of physicists, mainly originating from the laser-plasma community, started in the 1980's to work on compact plasma accelerators. Ultra high-gradient acceleration techniques, using field amplitudes of 100 GV/m to TV/m, rely on space charge separation between electrons and ions in plasmas. Static electric fields are produced to accelerate ions, whereas "travelling" electric fields supported by electron plasma waves are used to accelerate lighter particles such as electrons or positrons. The continuing efforts of the research community devoted to this topic has led to a number of high quality radiation sources or particle beams obtained by focusing high-intensity laser pulses on a variety of target materials and densities. The LOA has played with other important laboratories in Europe, in Asia and in America a major role in the development of these innovative sources of particle and radiation, particularly in the electron acceleration improvement and in the control of beam parameters (energy, brightness, emittance).