'Heater' Laser Pulse Animation (VIDEO)

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Caption

This animation shows a plasma channel's electron density profile (blue) formed inside a sapphire tube (gray) with the combination of an electrical discharge and an 8-nanosecond 'heater' laser pulse (red, orange, and yellow). Time is shown in nanoseconds. This plasma channel was used to guide femtoseconds-long "driver" laser pulses from the BELLA petawatt laser system, which generated plasma waves and accelerated electrons to 8 billion electron volts in just 20 centimeters.

Credit

Gennadiy Bagdasarov/Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics; Anthony Gonsalves/Berkeley Lab

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