Abstract
Plasma wakefield accelerators are capable of sustaining gigavolt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, surpassing the electric breakdown threshold in state-of-the-art accelerator modules by 3-4 orders of magnitude. Beam-driven wakefields offer particularly attractive conditions for the generation and acceleration of high-quality beams. However, this scheme relies on kilometer-scale accelerators. Here, we report on the demonstration of a millimeter-scale plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams. We showcase the acceleration of electron beams to 128MeV, consistent with simulations exhibiting accelerating gradients exceeding 100GVm(-1). This miniaturized accelerator is further explored by employing a controlled pair of drive and witness electron bunches, where a fraction of the driver energy is transferred to the accelerated witness through the plasma. Such a hybrid approach allows fundamental studies of beam-driven plasma accelerator concepts at widely accessible high-power laser facilities. It is anticipated to provide compact sources of energetic high-brightness electron beams for quality-demanding applications such as free-electron lasers. Particle accelerators based on laser- or electron-driven plasma waves promise compact sources for relativistic electron bunches. Here, Kurz and Heinemann et al. demonstrate a hybrid two-stage configuration, combining the individual features of both accelerating schemes.
| Item Type: | Journal article |
|---|---|
| Faculties: | Physics |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 530 Physics |
| ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
| Language: | English |
| Item ID: | 99888 |
| Date Deposited: | 05. Jun 2023, 15:33 |
| Last Modified: | 05. Jun 2023, 15:33 |
Actions (login required)
- View Item
