Abstract
In a crossed-laser-beam linear accelerator, the longitudinal acceleration field is obtained by crossing two fundamental Gaussian laser beams with a π phase difference from one another. We show by numerical calculation that a comparable acceleration field can be obtained by crossing two half-Gaussian laser beams wavefront-divided from a fundamental Gaussian laser beam. Since the relative phase between the two wavefront-divided, half-Gaussian beams is determined by a dielectric step at the splitting point, the π relative phase can be preserved even though background acoustic noises are present. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.