Observations of longitudinal and transverse self-injections in laser-plasma wakefield accelerators

Abstract : One of the key ingredients of laser-plasma accelerators is their injector, which defines how electrons are trapped into the laser-driven plasma wave. The stability and control of laser-plasma electron bunches strongly depends on this injection stage. Self-injection is a convenient way to achieve the electron trapping and is the most widely used injector. Here we demonstrate, by using a variable length gas cell, that injection can be achieved by either longitudinal or transverse self-injection, giving rise to very different electron beam features. The results are supported by 3 dimensional particle-in-cell simulations.