The acceleration of electrons to multi-GeV energies in short distances in plasmas via laser excitation became the topic of intensive research worldwide in the last four decades. After several successful laser installations from the TW to multi-hundred TW level in LBNL, the BELLA (Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator) system with its PW peak-power, 1 Hz repetition rate and ~35 fs pulses has been built as a uniquely dedicated laser plasma acceleration (LPA) research tool [1]. The ‘BELLA-PW’ is a Chirped Pulse Amplification laser system (CPA) for studying relativistic photon-electron interactions at extreme high laser intensities. An overview of two recent upgrades of the BELLA laser, including the radiation shielding, laser and radiation interlock systems required for the safe and efficient operation will be presented [2]. In addition to the latest 10 GeV electron acceleration results [3], emerging applications of laser-based particle acceleration will also be discussed.

1. K. Nakamura et al., Diagnostics, Control and Performance Parameters for the BELLA High Repetition Rate Petawatt Class Laser, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 53, 1200121 (2017).
2. S. Hakimi et al., Laser-solid interaction studies enabled by the new capabilities of the iP2 BELLA PW beamline, Physics of Plasmas, 29, 083102 (2022).
3. A. Picksley et al., Matched Guiding and Controlled Injection in Dark-Current-Free, 10-GeV-Class, Channel-Guided Laser-Plasma Accelerators, Physical Review Letters 133, 255001 (2024).

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