A 100 MeV proof-of-principle laser wakefield accelerator experiment

We present an initial design of a proof-of-principle experiment on the Laser Wakefield Accelerator (LWFA). The experiment will utilize the NRL Table-Top Terawatt (T/sup 3/) laser system as the driver for the wakefield in a pulsed-valve gas jet plasma, and a /spl sim/1 MeV Febetron as the electron beam injector. The LWFA will be operated in the self-modulated regime [1] where enhanced acceleration gradients and extended interaction distances can be achieved. Numerical simulations demonstrate that with the present parameters of the T/sup 3/ laser, peak accelerating gradients can reach >300 GeV/m and single stage energy gain of >100 MeV can be attained.<
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