Experimental studies of the laser-controlled collective ion accelerator

Detailed experimental studies of a collective acceleration experiment in which a time-sequenced laser-generated ionization channel is used to control the propagation of an intense relativistic electron beamfront are presented. Ions trapped in the potential well at the beamfront are accelerated as the velocity of the beamfront is increased in a manner controlled by the time-dependent axial extent of the ionization channel. Beamfront propagation data for two different accelerating gradients are presented, together with results of ion acceleration studies for both gradients