Dr Alex Picksley from the Department of Physics has been awarded the Institute of Physics’ Culham Thesis Prize: Plasma Physics Group. The annual prize recognises a well-explained thesis that demonstrates a good understanding of the subject and shows significant new work and originality.
Dr Picksley’s thesis is entitled ‘Low density plasma waveguides for multi-GeV laser Wakefield accelerators' and looks at development of laser-produced plasma channels suitable for building the next generation of particle accelerators.
When light is focused down to a small spot, it rapidly starts to spread out again and drop in intensity in a process called diffraction. A key component of laser plasma accelerators, a possible method for next generation particle accelerators, is keeping the laser pulse highly-intense over several centimeters. Dr Picksley’s thesis focuses on using a laser pulse to form a long, cylindrical light pipe in which ultra-high intensity lasers can be guided over several centimeters – suitable for high energy gain laser plasma accelerators. In his thesis, he develops the concept to meter-scale and looks at how these plasma channels can be used to accelerate electrons to multi-GeV energies.
‘I am really pleased to be recognised for the award,’ comments Dr Picksley, ‘which is a reflection of a great deal of work undertaken by the whole laser-plasma accelerator group at 91̽»¨. I am incredibly thankful to Professor Simon Hooker and to Professor Roman Walczak for their 91̽»¨ over the past four years, which were made difficult by the circumstances of the pandemic.’
Professor Walczak comments: ‘Congratulations to Alex for getting the Culham Thesis Prize and being the first to realise that guided high intensity laser pulse makes hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized (HOFI) plasma waveguide deeper and improves its attenuation length by orders of magnitude.’
Professor Hooker concludes: ‘I am delighted for Alex, who thoroughly deserves this award. In his thesis, and associated journal papers, Alex showed that HOFI plasma channels could guide relativistically-intense laser pulses over 100s of mm, and that their properties are well suited to multi-GeV laser-driven plasma accelerators. I look forward to seeing how Alex’s contributions influence the development of the field.’