The work could advance the development of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs), which have the potential to push the frontiers of high-energy physics and enable discoveries in materials science, fusion research, and many other areas.

LPAs use intense, ultrafast laser pulses passing through a plasma to accelerate charged particles up to a thousand times faster than current technologies. They promise more compact and powerful machines that are less expensive to build and operate than conventional accelerators.

Currently, most LPAs use laser pulses with repetition rates of only a few Hertz (Hz); however, realizing the full potential of LPAs "will require high-power laser systems capable of generating ultrashort, high-energy laser pulses at repetition rates in the kHz range or higher," says Siyun Chen, a Research Scientist at ATAP's BELLA Center, who led the experimental demonstration of the new technique.

These constraints, adds Chen, place very demanding requirements on the laser systems that generate such pulses. So, the researchers turned to fiber lasers, which she says are the "most efficient high-power laser technology demonstrated to date and also have extensive industrial development that could be leveraged in our work."