Particle acceleration in sub-cycle optical cells

Abstract

A single laser pulse with spot size smaller than half its wavelength ($w_0 < \lambda/2$) can provide a net energy gain to ultra-relativistic particles. In this paper, we discuss the properties of an optical cell consisting of $N$ sub-cycle pulses that propagate in the direction perpendicular to the electron motion. We show that the energy gain produced by the cell is proportional to $N$ and it is sizable even for $\mathcal{O}(1\mathrm{~TW})$ pulses.