Laser wakefield acceleration of electrons holds great promise for producing ultracompact
stages of GeV scale, high-quality electron beams for applications such as x-ray free electron
lasers and high-energy colliders. Ultrahigh intensity laser pulses can be self-guided by
relativistic plasma waves (the wake) over tens of vacuum diffraction lengths, to give> 1 GeV
energy in centimeter-scale low density plasmas using ionization-induced injection to inject
charge into the wake even at low densities. By restricting electron injection to a distinct short …

Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) of electrons holds great promise for producing
ultracompact stages of GeV scale, high quality electron beams for applications such as x-ray
free electron lasers and high energy colliders [1, 2]. Ultra-high intensity laser pulses can be
self-guided by relativistic plasma waves (the wake) over tens of vacuum diffraction lengths
[3], to give> 1 GeV energy in cm-scale low density plasma using state-of-the-art lasers [4].
Ionization-induced injection is an effective mechanism for injecting charge into plasma …