  At Shanghai Jiao Tong University, we have established a research laboratory
for advanced acceleration research based on high-power lasers and plasma
technologies. In a primary experiment based on the laser wakefield acceleration
(LWFA) scheme, multi-hundred MeV electron beams having a reasonable quality are
generated using 20-40 TW, 30 femtosecond laser pulses interacting independently
with helium, neon, nitrogen and argon gas jet targets. The laser-plasma
interaction conditions are optimized for stabilizing the electron beam
generation from each type of gas. The electron beam pointing angle stability
and divergence angle as well as the energy spectra from each gas jet are
measured and compared.
