Pulse Propagation and Electron Acceleration in a Corrugated Plasma Channel

A preformed plasma channel provides a guiding structure for laser pulses unbound by the intensity thresholds of standard waveguides. The recently realized corrugated plasma channel [Layer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 035001 (2007)] allows for the guiding of laser pulses with subluminal spatial harmonics. These spatial harmonics can be phase matched to high energy electrons, making the corrugated plasma channel ideal for the acceleration of electrons. We present a simple analytic model of pulse propagation in a corrugated plasma channel and examine the laser-electron beam interaction. Simulations show accelerating gradients of several hundred MeV/cm for laser powers much lower than required by standard laser wakefield schemes.