Generation and measurements of high energy injection electrons from the high density laser ionization and ponderomotive acceleration

The high density regime of the laser ionization and ponderomotive acceleration (HD-LIPA) injector provides high injection bunch charge by employing a high density gas jet. Measurements and simulations confirmed that space charge effects lead to a distribution of high energy LIPA electrons in the directly forward directions in violation of the LIPA angle-energy relationship. These electrons also have much higher energies than predicted, indicating that further acceleration by mechanisms such as the self-modulated laser Wakefield acceleration may be present in the HD-LIPA environment. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.