Controlled Trapping in Laser Wakefield Accelerators
Experimental studies of laser-driven acceleration of charged particles, in particular electrons and protons, are described in this dissertation. Tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses with intensities exceeding 1018 W/cm2 were used to accelerate charged particles to high energies over distances of a few millimeters. Although the transverse fields of such laser pulses are sufficient to directly a