Broadband single-shot electron spectrometer for GeV-class laser-plasma-based accelerators

Laser-plasma-based accelerators can provide electrons over a broad energy range and/or with large momentum spread. The electron beam energy distribution can be controlled via accurate control of laser and plasma properties, and beams with energies ranging from ≅0.5 to 1000 MeV have been observed. Measuring these energy distributions in a single shot requires the use of a diagnostic with large momentum acceptance and, ideally, sufficient resolution to accurately measure narrow energy spread beams. Such a broadband single-shot electron magnetic spectrometer for GeV-class laser-plasma-based accelerators has been developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Detailed descriptions of the design concept and hardware are presented, as well as a performance evaluation of the spectrometer. The spectrometer covered electron beam energies raging from 0.01 to 1.1 GeV in a single shot, and enabled the simultaneous measurement of the laser properties at the exit of the accelerator through the use of a sufficiently large pole gap. Based on measured field maps and third-order transport analysis, a few percent-level resolution and determination of the absolute energy were achieved over the entire energy range. Laser-plasma-based accelerator experiments demonstrated the capability of the spectrometer as a diagnostic and its suitability for measuring broadband electron sources