An inverse Cherenkov accelerator using a dielectric channelled waveguide

A cylindrical dielectric structure based inverse Cherenkov, laser driven accelerator scheme is proposed. The scheme uses the inverse process of a charged particle radiating inside a partially filled dielectric wave guide. Due to the efficient coupling of the laser beam to the accelerating fields, a very modest amount of laser power can produce GV/m scale gradients. Numerical examples are given for several cases. One particular parameter set demonstrates that a net acceleration of 1 GeV can be achieved using a 200 kW, 3 ns, radially polarized 10.6 mu m laser drive beam. A proof of principle prototype experiment is also discussed.