Plasma-based accelerators articles from across Nature Portfolio

The 3D density profile of a femtosecond kilo-ampere electron bunch from laser wakefield acceleration was detected by using advanced optical diagnostics and genetic algorithm.

Typically, mJ lasers generate 50 keV temperature plasma electrons. Here, the authors use mJ laser pulses to chisel a liquid droplet surface and generate an electron temperature of 1 MeV, a feat previously possible only with 100 times more powerful lasers.

High-quality measurements with good statistics, especially in a single shot, require fluxes and energies beyond the current capabilities of laserbased betatron x-ray sources. Here, the authors propose a method to enhance the flux and brightness of such sources without increasing the laser energy, paving the way for single-shot x-ray measurements in ultrafast science.

Acceleration of heavy ions is difficult in presence of low charge contaminants due to their high charge-to-mass ratio. The authors use ultra-thin Au foils to efficiently accelerate both contaminants and heavy ions, discussing the interplay between distinct acceleration mechanisms at different stages of interaction via particle-in-cell simulations.

Relativistic laser-solid interactions are simulated via particle-in-cell (PIC) approaches, while subrelativistic regimes rely on radiation-hydrodynamics formulations. To validate the methods at the transition from relativistic to subrelativistic laser intensities, the authors propose a testbed to experimentally benchmark PIC simulations.

Enhancement of laser energy conversion into X-rays is obtained using a target made by entwined carbon nanotubes.

The merits of conventional particle accelerators range from fundamental science to applications like radiotherapy. Plasma-based accelerators are getting up to speed and may overtake conventional ones in the near future.

Laser accelerators promised to deliver high-energy particle beams for biomedical uses, but have struggled to meet constraints on dose control and stability. An experiment now enables translational research with proton beams at ultrahigh dose rate.