OPTICAL MIXING OF LASER-LIGHT IN A PLASMA AND ELECTRON ACCELERATION BY RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON-PLASMA WAVES

Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the principle of electron acceleration by relativistic electron plasma waves driven by the optical mixing of laser light in a plasma. Electrons injected at 12.5 MeV have been accelerated to 29.0 MeV over a plasma length of approximately 1 cm. This corresponds to an effective accelerating electric field gradient of approximately 1.7 GeV/m. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.