Plasma Channel Diagnostic Based on Laser Centroid Oscillations

A technique has been developed for measuring the properties of discharge-based plasma channels by monitoring the centroid location of a laser beam exiting the channel as a function of input alignment offset between the laser and the channel. The centroid position of low-intensity (<1014 W cm-2) laser pulses focused at the input of a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide was scanned and the exit positions recorded to determine the channel shape and depth with an accuracy of a few %. In addition, accurate alignment of the laser beam through the plasma channel can be provided by minimizing laser centroid motion at the channel exit as the channel depth is scanned either by scanning the plasma density or the discharge timing. The improvement in alignment accuracy provided by this technique will be crucial for minimizing electron beam pointing errors in laser plasma accelerators.