Nanowerk February 27, 2023
A team of researchers in the US (University of Michigan, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) has shown, through simulations, that laser pulse surfing in the wake of an electron beam pulse could get upshifted from visible to extreme ultraviolet light. They found phase-matching conditions for the pulse using a tailored density profile. An analytic solution for a 1D nonlinear plasma wake with an electron beam driver indicated that, even though the plasma density decreases, the frequency shift reaches no asymptotic limit, provided the wake can be sustained. In fully self-consistent 1D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, more than 40 times frequency shifts were demonstrated. In quasi-3D PIC simulations, frequency shifts up to 10 times were observed, limited only by simulation resolution and nonoptimized driver evolution. According to the researchers, the approach could enable more efficient generation of high-energy laser light, perhaps even to X-rays… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Schematic for phase-matched photon acceleration… Credit: Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 085001, 23 February 2023Â