Ultra-Low Emittance Electron Beams from Laser-Plasma Photo-Cathodes

激光等离子体光电阴极产生的超低发射率电子束

• 批准号: 1535700
• 负责人: Donald Umstadter
• 金额: $ 31.5万
• 依托单位: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1535700&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ultra; Low; Emittance; Electron; Beams

The progress of basic research into physics, biomedicine, materials science, and chemistry depends critically on the qualities of high-energy electrons. An important current application of electrons is x-ray radiology, used for medical diagnostics, homeland security, non-destructive analysis, and computer manufacturing. By developing novel methods to accelerate electrons with laser light, this project aims to demonstrate new techniques to greatly improve the quality of electron beams. In the process, a new generation of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics will receive training in disciplines deemed essential for national scientific and economic competitiveness. The development of compact high-field-gradient laser-plasma accelerators has advanced rapidly in recent years. Several recent theoretical studies predict the possibility of ultra-low emittance beams (substantially lower than the current state of the art). However, these predictions have yet to be tested experimentally. Such experiments will be conducted during this project with the cutting-edge laser technology, including the petawatt peak-power-level DIOCLES laser, available at the University of Nebraska's Extreme Light laboratory. Laser light will be used to both inject and accelerate electrons, producing beams with record low emittance. Novel methods will be developed and implemented to measure ultra-low beam emittance. The experimental results will be compared with predictions of modeling and simulation?to either validate existing physical models, or develop new ones that agree with observations. It is anticipated that this research will significantly improve our understanding of the fundamental physics of laser-wakefield electron accelerators, as well as further advance their development.

物理学、生物医学、材料科学和化学等基础研究的进展关键取决于高能电子的性质。目前电子的一个重要应用是X射线放射学，用于医疗诊断、国土安全、非破坏性分析和计算机制造。通过开发用激光加速电子的新方法，该项目旨在展示大大提高电子束质量的新技术。在此过程中，科学、技术、工程和数学领域的新一代学生将接受被认为对国家科学和经济竞争力至关重要的学科的培训。近年来，小型高场梯度激光等离子体加速器的发展迅速。最近的几项理论研究预测了超低发射率光束（大大低于当前的技术水平）的可能性。然而，这些预测还有待实验验证。这些实验将在该项目期间使用尖端激光技术进行，包括内布拉斯加大学极端光实验室提供的petawatt峰值功率级DIOCLES激光器。激光将用于注入和加速电子，产生具有创纪录低发射率的光束。将开发和实施新的方法来测量超低束发射度。将实验结果与建模和仿真的预测进行比较？来验证现有的物理模型，或者开发与观测相符的新模型。预计这项研究将大大提高我们对激光尾场电子加速器基本物理的理解，并进一步推动其发展。