Design, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed, custom-made nozzle for laser wakefield acceleration experiments

G Andrianaki; A Grigoriadis; A Skoulakis; I Tazes; D Mancelli; I Fitilis; V Dimitriou; E P Benis; N A Papadogiannis; M Tatarakis; I K Nikolos

doi:10.1063/5.0169623

Design, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed, custom-made nozzle for laser wakefield acceleration experiments

Rev Sci Instrum. 2023 Oct 1;94(10):103309. doi: 10.1063/5.0169623.

Authors

G Andrianaki^{1

2}, A Grigoriadis^{2

3}, A Skoulakis^{2

4}, I Tazes^{2

4}, D Mancelli^{2

4}, I Fitilis^{2

4}, V Dimitriou^{2

5}, E P Benis^{2

3}, N A Papadogiannis^{2

5}, M Tatarakis^{2

4}, I K Nikolos^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Production Engineering and Management, Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece.
² Institute of Plasma Physics and Lasers, University Research and Innovation Center, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 74100 Rethymno, Crete, Greece.
³ Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
⁴ Department of Electronic Engineering, School of Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 73133 Chania, Greece.
⁵ Physical Acoustics and Optoacoustics Laboratory, Department of Music Technology and Acoustics, School of Music and Optoacoustic Technologies, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 74133 Rethymno, Greece.

PMID: 37855698
DOI: 10.1063/5.0169623

Abstract

Laser WakeField Acceleration (LWFA) is extensively used as a high-energy electron source, with electrons achieving energies up to the GeV level. The produced electron beam characteristics depend strongly on the gas density profile. When the gaseous target is a gas jet, the gas density profile is affected by parameters, such as the nozzle geometry, the gas used, and the backing pressure applied to the gas valve. An electron source based on the LWFA mechanism has recently been developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics and Lasers. To improve controllability over the electron source, we developed a set of 3D-printed nozzles suitable for creating different gas density profiles according to the experimental necessities. Here, we present a study of the design, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed nozzle intended for LWFA experiments.