Acceleration of Injected Electrons by the Plasma Beat Wave Accelerator

In this paper we describe the recent work at UCLA on the acceleration of externally injected electrons by a relativistic plasma wave. A two frequency laser was used to excite a plasma wave over a narrow range of static gas pressures close to resonance. Electrons with energies up to our detection limit of 9.1 MeV were observed when 2.1 MeV electrons were injected in the plasma wave. No accelerated electrons above the detection threshold were observed when the laser was operated on a single frequency or when no electrons were injected. Experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions, and future prospects for the plasma beat wave accelerator are discussed.