Influence of longitudinal chromatism on vacuum acceleration by intense radially polarized laser beams

Abstract

We report with single particle simulations that longitudinal chromatism, a commonly occuring spatio-temporal coupling in ultrashort laser pulses, can have a significant influence in the longitudinal acceleration of electrons via high-power, tightly-focused radially polarized laser beams. This effect can be advantageous, and even more-so when combined with small values of temporal chirp. However, the effect can also be highly destructive when the magnitude and sign of the longitudinal chromatism is not ideal, even at very small magnitudes. This motivates the characterization and understanding of the driving laser pulses, and further study of the influence of similar low-order spatial-temporal couplings on such acceleration.