Optical Control of the Topology of Laser-Plasma Accelerators

J. Vieira (1) , J.  T. Mendonça (2) , F. Quéré (3, 4)

1 GoLP/Centro de Física dos Plasmas
2 GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear
3 LIDyl - Laboratoire Interactions, Dynamiques et Lasers (ex SPAM)
4 PHI - Physique à Haute Intensité

We propose a twisted plasma accelerator capable of generating relativistic electron vortex beams with helical current profiles. The angular momentum of these vortex bunches is quantized, dominates their transverse motion, and results in spiraling particle trajectories around the twisted wakefield. We focus on a laser wakefield acceleration scenario, driven by a laser beam with a helical spatiotemporal intensity profile, also known as a light spring. We find that these light springs can rotate as they excite the twisted plasma wakefield, providing a new mechanism to control the twisted wakefield phase velocity and enhance energy gain and trapping efficiency beyond planar wakefields.

Domains: Theoretical and/or physical chemistry; Mechanics of materials [physics.class-ph]; Chemical Physics [physics.chem-ph]; Accelerator Physics [physics.acc-ph]

J. Vieira, J.  T. Mendonça, F. Quéré. Optical Control of the Topology of Laser-Plasma Accelerators. Physical Review Letters, 2018, 121 (5), pp.054801. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.054801⟩. ⟨cea-02277452⟩