The 6th International Conference on Matter and Radiation at Extremes (ICMRE2023)

288 / 2023-04-25 15:33:45

Femtosecond electron microscopy of the laser-plasma wakefield dynamics

Fundamental Physics at Extreme Light > Particle Acceleration-I

Nowadays laser-plasma-based wakefield accelerators are capable to deliver GeV-level femtosecond electron bunches crucial for emerging applications in medicine, industry, and

fundamental science. Many of these applications critically require the precise characterization of the accelerated electron bunch as well as the plasma wakefield that largely

affects the bunch’s quality. Advanced diagnostics of such highly transient, microscopic bunch and field structures, however, remains very challenging. In the experiments presented here, we address this challenge with a novel technique we name as femtosecond ultrarelativistic electron microscopy, which utilizes a high-energy electron bunch from another laser-plasma accelerator as a probe. This single-shot electron microscopy allows us to characterize the nonlinear plasma wakefield dynamics and the associated electron bunch evolution with high spatiotemporal resolution. We anticipate that these results will significantly advance the understanding of the complex laser-beam-plasma dynamics and also provide a powerful diagnostic tool for the real-time optimization of plasma accelerators.