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Description
Laser-plasma accelerators are a promising technology for compact drivers of linear colliders and secondary radiation sources. To maximize single-stage energy gain, the high-intensity drive laser pulse must be kept focused over several tens of centimeters through a sufficiently low-density plasma. Recently, we employed plasma channels based on the hydrodynamic expansion of optical field ionized plasmas (HOFI) [1-3] to form steep channels with appropriate matched spot-size at low plasma densities. Using the BELLA PW laser, we demonstrated high quality guiding of PW-class pulses through 30-cm-long channels [4]. By changing the channel length on a shot-by-shot basis, we observed laser coupling into high-order channel modes and their energy loss through mode filtering, followed by matched propagation of the fundamental mode, and nonlinear depletion of laser energy. Through localized ionization injection, we generated electron beams with single, quasimonoenegertic peaks up to 9.2 GeV and charge extending beyond 10 GeV. This work provides several key steps towards a 10-GeV-class LPA that is suitable for applications.
[1] R. Shalloo et al., Phys. Rev. E (2018)
[2] A. Picksley et al., Phys. Rev. E (2020)
[3] L. Feder et al., Phys. Rev. Research (2020)
[4] A. Picksley et al., Phys. Rev. Lett (2024)
