Dual-energy electron beams from a compact laser-driven accelerator

• Main Authors: Wenz, J, Khrennikov, K, Döpp, A, Gilljohann, M, Ding, H, Goetzfried, J, Schindler, S, Buck, A, Xu, J, Heigoldt, M, Helml, W, Veisz, L, Karsch, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-03-2020
• Subjects: Physics - Accelerator Physics; Physics - Optics; Physics - Plasma Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1804.05931

Nature Photonics 13, 263-269 (2019) Ultrafast pump-probe experiments open the possibility to track fundamental
material behaviour like changes in its electronic configuration in real time.
To date, most of these experiments are performed using an electron or a
high-energy photon beam, which is synchronized to an infrared laser pulse.
Entirely new opportunities can be explored if not only a single, but multiple
synchronized, ultra-short, high-energy beams are used. However, this requires
advanced radiation sources that are capable of producing dual-energy electron
beams, for example. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous generation of
twin-electron beams from a single compact laser wakefield accelerator. The
energy of each beam can be individually adjusted over a wide range and our
analysis shows that the bunch lengths and their delay inherently amount to
femtoseconds. Our proof-of-concept results demonstrate an elegant way to
perform multi-beam experiments in future on a laboratory scale.