Yb-based cascaded multi-pass cell post-compression setup for kHz laser-plasma acceleration

Laser-plasma acceleration (LPA) has been moving towards mainstream acceptance with an increased R&D activity aimed at demonstrating reliability and control of LPA beam quality, mainly by using active feedback on both the laser and laser-plasma interaction parameters [1]. Driving multi-MeV LPA at kHz repetition rate using few-mJ, few-fs laser pulses obtained from a post-compressed Ti:Sa laser in a gas filled hollow-core fiber, paved the way to demonstrate continuous “hands-off” LPA operation for over 5 hours, with a world record in terms of consecutive shots [2]. Even though this proof-of-principle experiment showed that one could indeed control a kHz LPA for extended periods of time, the deployment of LPA for real-life applications, such as radiotherapy or non-destructive testing, requires industry-grade high-power laser drivers combined with more adapted post-compression schemes such as multi-pass cells (MPC) [3].