Asymmetric self-injection of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator via localized laser redshifting

Le résumé fourni par la source

Propagation of intense laser pulses in underdense plasma always involves nonlinear evolution of the laser envelope, which leads to large deviations from the initial Gaussian intensity profile. The modulations in the intensity envelope have strong influence not only on the formation of the wakefield, but also in the process of electron injection; thus, it defines the final spectral and angular distribution of the accelerated electrons. Better understanding of the laser pulse evolution is crucial for the correct interpretation of the experimental results, especially in the highly relativistic regime. We developed a simple numerical tool, which adequately models the evolution of the laser envelope up to the point when the spectral broadening becomes significant. Our numerical modeling sheds light on the asymmetric wakefield generation and consequent off-axis injection of electrons, observed in experiments and particle-in-cell simulations.

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