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  • Open Access

Tailored laser wakefield acceleration for decaying particles

Chiara Badiali1,*, Rafael Almeida1, Bernardo Malaca1,2, Ricardo Fonseca1,3, Thales Silva1, and Jorge Vieira1

  • *Contact author: chiara.badiali@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023077 – Published 27 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/1pp8-qx35

Abstract

We introduce a plasma wakefield acceleration scheme capable of boosting initially subrelativistic particles to relativistic velocities within millimeter-scale distances. A subluminal light pulse drives a wake whose velocity is continuously matched to the beam speed through a tailored plasma density, thereby extending the dephasing length. We develop a theoretical model that is generalizable across particle mass, initial velocity, and the particular accelerating bucket being used, and we verify its accuracy with particle-in-cell simulations using laser drivers with energies in the joule range.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023077– Published 27 April, 2026
  • Received 27 June 2025
  • Revised 26 November 2025
  • Accepted 11 March 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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