Long-range persistence of femtosecond modulations on laser-plasma-accelerated electron beams

Abstract

Laser plasma accelerators have produced femtosecond electron bunches with a relative energy spread ranging from 100% to a few percent. Simulations indicate that the measured energy spread can be dominated by a correlated spread, with the slice spread significantly lower. Measurements of coherent optical transition radiation are presented for broad-energy-spread beams with laser-induced density and momentum modulations. The long-range (meter-scale) observation of coherent optical transition radiation indicates that the slice energy spread is below the percent level to preserve the modulations.