Beam loading is the phenomenon which limits the charge and the beam quality in plasma based accelerators. An experimental study conducted with a laser-plasma accelerator is presented. Beam loading manifests itself through the decrease of the beam energy, the reduction of dark current, and the increase of the energy spread for large beam charge. 3D PIC simulations are compared to the experimental results and confirm the effects of beam loading. It is found that, in our experimental conditions, the trapped electron beams generate decelerating fields on the order of $1(\mathrm{GV}/\mathrm{m})/\mathrm{pC}$ and that beam loading effects are optimized for trapped charges of about 20 pC.

• Received 13 March 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.194804