Simulation of ultrashort electron pulse generation from optical injection into wake-field plasma waves.

A laser-plasma-based source of relativistic electrons is described in detail, and analyzed in two dimensions using theoretical and numeric techniques. Two laser beams are focused in a plasma, one exciting a wake-field electron plasma wave while another locally alters some electron trajectories in such a way that they can be trapped and accelerated by the wave. Previous analyses dealt only with one-dimensional models. In this paper two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and analysis of single particle trajectories show that the radial wake field plays an important role. The simulation results are interpreted to evaluate the accelerated electron beam's properties and compared with existing devices.