Beam loading in a laser-plasma accelerator using a near-hollow plasma channel

Beam loading in laser-plasma accelerators using a near-hollow plasma channel is examined in the linear wake regime. It is shown that, by properly shaping and phasing the witness particle beam, high-gradient acceleration can be achieved with high-efficiency, and without induced energy spread or emittance growth. Both electron and positron beams can be accelerated in this plasma channel geometry. Matched propagation of electron beams can be achieved by the focusing force provided by the channel density. For positron beams, matched propagation can be achieved in a hollow plasma channel with external focusing. The efficiency of energy transfer from the wake to a witness beam is calculated for single ultra-short bunches and bunch trains. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.