Quasi-Monoenergetic Electron Acceleration: The Self-Modulated Multi-Bubble Regime

The continuous rapid advance in the development of relativistic laser systems currently boosts the use of such devices in the creation of energetic particle beams. The ultra-high fields that emerge when femtosecond laser pulses are focussed on spots of only a few microns diameter exceed those of radio-frequency accelerators by at least four orders of magnitude. Matter located in such a laser focus is instantly ionized to a plasma, easily producing and supporting plasma waves with electric fields up to the TV/m-level, whereas conventional rf cavities are ultimately