Benchmarking of hydrodynamic plasma waveguides for multi-GeV laser-driven electron acceleration

Abstract

Hydrodynamic plasma waveguides initiated by optical field ionization (OFI) have recently become a key component of multi-GeV laser wakefield accelerators. Here, we present the most complete and accurate experimental and simulation-based characterization to date, applicable both to current multi-GeV experiments and future 100 GeV-scale laser plasma accelerators. Crucial to the simulations is the correct modeling of intense Bessel beam interaction with meter-scale gas targets, the results of which are used as initial conditions for hydrodynamic simulations. The simulations are in good agreement with our experiments measuring evolving plasma and neutral hydrogen density profiles using two-color short pulse interferometry, enabling realistic determination of the guided mode structure for application to laser-driven plasma accelerator design.