'Flying focus' laser overcomes key limitation in plasma-based particle accelerators
Researchers have developed a 'flying focus' laser technique that overcomes the 'dephasing' limit in plasma-based particle accelerators. This advancement allows electrons to reach significantly higher energies than previously possible, potentially revolutionizing accelerator technology.
Why it matters
This breakthrough could lead to more compact and efficient particle accelerators, which have wide-ranging applications in medicine, materials science, and fundamental physics research.
edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan
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Add as preferred source A schematic of the experimental setup. Credit: C. D. Arrowsmith et al./Nature Physics. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03352-x. In a new Nature Physics study , researchers accelerated electrons to more than twice the energy predicted by the traditional dephasing limit for laser-plasma accelerators operating over the same distance. This was made possible by a specially engineered laser pulse called a flying focus, which counteracts a longstanding limitation known as "dephasing."
Laser-plasma accelerators use an intense, ultrashort laser pulse to drive a wave of charge through a plasma. In principle, this makes it possible to accelerate particles to very high energies over just centimeters, rather than kilometers.
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