Design, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed, custom-made nozzle for laser wakefield acceleration experimentsDesign, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed, custom-made nozzle for laser wakefield acceleration experiments Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2025-07-182023enLaser WakeField Acceleration (LWFA) is extensively used as a high-energy electron source, with electrons achieving energies up to the GeV level. The produced electron beam characteristics depend strongly on the gas density profile. When the gaseous target is a gas jet, the gas density profile is affected by parameters, such as the nozzle geometry, the gas used, and the backing pressure applied to the gas valve. An electron source based on the LWFA mechanism has recently been developed at the Institute of Plasma Physics and Lasers. To improve controllability over the electron source, we developed a set of 3D-printed nozzles suitable for creating different gas density profiles according to the experimental necessities. Here, we present a study of the design, manufacturing, evaluation, and performance of a 3D-printed nozzle intended for LWFA experiments.The implementation of this work was co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Program” Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning” in the context of the Act “Enhancing Human Resources Research Potential by undertaking a Doctoral Research” Sub-action 2: IKY Scholarship Program for Ph.D. candidates in the Greek Universities (Grant No. OPS 5113934, Contract No. 2022-050-0502-52480).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Review of Scientific Instruments9410 Andrianaki Georgia Ανδριανακη Γεωργια Grigoriadis Anastasios Skoulakis Alexandros Tazes Ioannis Mancelli Donaldi Fitilis Ioannis Dimitriou Vasilis Benis Emmanouil Papadogiannis Nektarios Tatarakis, Michael, 19..- Nikolos Ioannis Νικολος Ιωαννης AIP Publishing Back pressure Interferometry 3D printing Integral transforms Electron sources Plasma acceleration Gas jet Fluid dynamics Quasi one dimensional flows Supersonic flows