Generation of high charge electron beams by ionization injection

One of the most challenging aspects in Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is controlled injection of electrons into the correct phase of the accelerating field. In the ionization injection scheme this is addressed by adding a small fraction of high Z gas to the accelerating medium. Electrons in the K-shell possess a high ionization threshold which is only reached around the laser maximum, close to the center of the propagation axis. Compared to wave-breaking injection, ionization injection requires relatively low laser intensities and plasma densities, allowing us to drive the wakefield in a more stable way.
We present an extensive experimental parameter study, showing the influence of Nitrogen doping concentration on beam parameters: energy spread, charge & repeatability. We discuss the influence of laser energy and plasma density on maximum reachable energy and conversion efficiency.
We show a regime where our laser system (2.5J on target, 30 fs) generates stable electron beams (252 MeV, +/- 9% shot-to-shot) with narrow bandwidth (36 MeV +/- 11MeV FWHM) and high charge (292 pC +/- 59 pC within 1/e2) electron beams, while retaining a low background.