Relativistic laser hosing instability suppression and electron acceleration in a preformed plasma channel.

Abstract

The hosing processes of a relativistic laser pulse, electron acceleration, and betatron radiation in a parabolic plasma channel are investigated in the direct laser acceleration regime. It is shown that the laser hosing instability would result in the generation of a randomly directed off-axis electron beam and radiation source with a large divergence angle. While employing a preformed parabolic plasma channel, the restoring force provided by the plasma channel would correct the perturbed laser wave front and thus suppress the hosing instability. As a result, the accelerated electron beam and the emitted photons are well guided and concentrated along the channel axis. The employment of a proper plasma density channel can stably guide the relativistically intense laser pulse and greatly improve the properties of the electron beam and radiation source. This scheme is of great interest for the generation of high quality electron beams and radiation sources.