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arXiv · 2606.07147

Multi-kilohertz laser plasma acceleration driven by an industrial-grade Yb:YAG laser

Bonaventura Farace·Nikita Khodakovskiy·Rob Shalloo·Tae Gyu Pak·Esmerando Escoto·Supriya Rajhans·Arthur Schönberg·Ingmar Hartl·Jens Osterhoff·Christoph Heyl·Andreas Maier·Kristjan Põder·Wim Leemans
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Abstract

Laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) are a promising platform for compact radiation sources. For a wide range of applications, including radiotherapy, ultrafast electron diffraction and time-resolved imaging, stable operation at high repetition rates is essential in order to deliver competitive average particle flux. Here we demonstrate the first LPA driven by an industrial-grade ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Yb:YAG) laser, designed for high-average-power operation. The picosecond laser pulses are post-compressed in a multi-pass cell to 50 fs duration and used to drive the interaction. The electron accelerator is operated in burst mode, at repetition rates tuneable from 0.625 to 6.25 kHz, representing a substantial increase compared to the state-of-the-art. Across this range, the electron beam properties remain unchanged, with average charges of 10-12 pC per shot, divergences of 50-70 mrad, and Maxwellian-like spectra extending to a few MeV. Numerical simulations capture the key features of the experimental observations and indicate acceleration in the self-modulated regime, enabled by relativistic self-focusing in near-critical-density plasma. Combining industrial high-average-power laser technology with plasma-based acceleration, these results represent a key step toward scalable, compact high-repetition-rate electron sources for medical, imaging and industrial applications.

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Bonaventura Farace, Nikita Khodakovskiy, Rob Shalloo, Tae Gyu Pak, Esmerando Escoto, Supriya Rajhans, Arthur Schönberg, Ingmar Hartl, Jens Osterhoff, Christoph Heyl, Andreas Maier, Kristjan Põder, Wim Leemans. 2026-06-05. Multi-kilohertz laser plasma acceleration driven by an industrial-grade Yb:YAG laser. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.07147

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