Vacuum laser-driven acceleration by Airy beams

The possibility of enhancing the energy gain in vacuum electron acceleration by Airy beams is examined. The characteristics of transverse acceleration and non-diffraction of Airy beam can lead to the formation of a long asymmetric field channel along the propagation axis, where the intense asymmetric field can accelerate the injected electron to higher energy. Meanwhile, the injection energy of electron plays an important role in determining the final energy gain. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America