Measurements of energetic electrons from the high-intensity laser ionization of gases

Electrons ionized from tightly bound atomic states by a high-intensity laser pulse can gain energies from one to millions of electron volts dependent on the intensity of the pulse. We have currently been investigating hundreds of kilovolt to megavolt electrons produced by ionization of krypton and argon with terawatt laser pulses. Angular and energy distributions have been measured to determine the usability of this electron source as an injector for higher energy accelerators. Studies have included pressure dependence, angular ejection angle energy dependence, and polarization dependence. In particular, the energy-dependent ejection angle of electrons has been used to produce electron beams with energies peaked at 600 keV. Numerical simulations of these electrons show that 4 MV electron beams with excellent beam quality and femtosecond pulse widths can be produced from this electron source using higher power laser pulses. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.