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Spectral phase control for optimized ionization injection in laser wakefield acceleration

Backhouse, M. P. ; Dickson, L. T. ; Moulanier, I. ; Massimo, F. ; Cobo, C. C. ; Filippi, F. ; Gustafsson, Cornelia LU orcid ; Löfquist, Erik LU ; Svendsen, Kristoffer LU and Streeter, M. J. V. , et al. (2025) In Physical Review Accelerators and Beams 28(12).
Abstract
Generating narrow energy spread beams from laser wakefield accelerators with minimal dark current is important for many applications. We present an automated experiment using Bayesian optimization to control the laser spectral phase and focal position, achieving significant enhancement of the beam quality. Starting from a broadband spectrum, the optimized configuration achieved low-energy spread with negligible dark current above 20 MeV. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that fine control over the laser spectral phase, particularly third-order dispersion, directly impacts the timing and localization of ionization injection due to its effect on the initial laser intensity envelope and its subsequent evolution. A positively skewed temporal... (More)
Generating narrow energy spread beams from laser wakefield accelerators with minimal dark current is important for many applications. We present an automated experiment using Bayesian optimization to control the laser spectral phase and focal position, achieving significant enhancement of the beam quality. Starting from a broadband spectrum, the optimized configuration achieved low-energy spread with negligible dark current above 20 MeV. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that fine control over the laser spectral phase, particularly third-order dispersion, directly impacts the timing and localization of ionization injection due to its effect on the initial laser intensity envelope and its subsequent evolution. A positively skewed temporal profile enhances the plasma potential depth at the right location, enabling localized injection and reducing the energy spread and dark current. These findings highlight the impact of algorithmic optimization and the powerful, underutilized role of temporal shaping in beam quality control. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review Accelerators and Beams
volume
28
issue
12
article number
121301
pages
6 pages
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • scopus:105024316830
ISSN
2469-9888
DOI
10.1103/9gjq-htzn
project
Fundamental and Applied Studies of Laser Plasma Accelerators
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
855d78d5-bd6d-451b-a5ff-487165ccd26d
date added to LUP
2026-01-15 09:42:12
date last changed
2026-01-19 13:03:49
@article{855d78d5-bd6d-451b-a5ff-487165ccd26d,
  abstract     = {{Generating narrow energy spread beams from laser wakefield accelerators with minimal dark current is important for many applications. We present an automated experiment using Bayesian optimization to control the laser spectral phase and focal position, achieving significant enhancement of the beam quality. Starting from a broadband spectrum, the optimized configuration achieved low-energy spread with negligible dark current above 20 MeV. Particle-in-cell simulations reveal that fine control over the laser spectral phase, particularly third-order dispersion, directly impacts the timing and localization of ionization injection due to its effect on the initial laser intensity envelope and its subsequent evolution. A positively skewed temporal profile enhances the plasma potential depth at the right location, enabling localized injection and reducing the energy spread and dark current. These findings highlight the impact of algorithmic optimization and the powerful, underutilized role of temporal shaping in beam quality control.}},
  author       = {{Backhouse, M. P. and Dickson, L. T. and Moulanier, I. and Massimo, F. and Cobo, C. C. and Filippi, F. and Gustafsson, Cornelia and Löfquist, Erik and Svendsen, Kristoffer and Streeter, M. J. V. and Shalloo, R. J. and Vasilovici, O. and Ballage, C. and Dann, S. J. D. and Murphy, C. D. and Najmudin, Z. and Dobosz Dufrénoy, S. and Lundh, Olle and Cros, Brigitte}},
  issn         = {{2469-9888}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{12}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review Accelerators and Beams}},
  title        = {{Spectral phase control for optimized ionization injection in laser wakefield acceleration}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/9gjq-htzn}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/9gjq-htzn}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}