Plasma photocathode wakefield acceleration combines energy gains of tens of GeV m−1 with generation of ultralow emittance electron bunches, and opens a path towards 5D-brightness orders of magnitude larger than state-of-the-art. This holds great promise for compact accelerator building blocks and advanced light sources. However, an intrinsic by-product of the enormous electric field gradients inherent to plasma accelerators is substantial correlated energy spread—an obstacle for key applications such as free-electron-lasers. Here we show that by releasing an additional tailored escort electron beam at a later phase of the acceleration, when the witness bunch is relativistically stable, the plasma wave can be locally overloaded without compromising the witness bunch normalized emittance. This reverses the effective accelerating gradient, and counter-rotates the accumulated negative longitudinal phase space chirp of the witness bunch. Thereby, the energy spread is reduced by an order of magnitude, thus enabling the production of ultrahigh 6D-brightness beams.

Plasma waves generated in the wake of intense, relativistic laser 1,2 or particle beams 3,4 can accelerate electron bunches to giga-electronvolt (GeV) energies in centimetre-scale distances. This allows the realization of compact accelerators having emerging applications, ranging from modern light sources such as the free-electron laser (FEL) to energy frontier lepton colliders. In a plasma wakefield accelerator, such multi-gigavoltper-metre (GV m -1 ) wakefields can accelerate witness electron bunches that are either externally injected 5,6 or captured from the background plasma 7,8 . Here we demonstrate optically triggered injection 9,10,11 and acceleration of electron bunches, generated in a multi-component hydrogen and helium plasma employing a spatially aligned and synchronized laser pulse. This "plasma photocathode" decouples injection from wake excitation by liberating tunnel-ionized helium electrons directly inside the plasma cavity, where these cold electrons are then rapidly boosted to relativistic velocities. The injection regime can be accessed via optical 11 density down-ramp injection 18,19,20 , is highly tunable and paves the way to generation of electron beams with unprecedented low transverse emittance, high current and 6D-brightness 12 . This experimental path opens numerous prospects for transformative plasma wakefield accelerator applications based on ultrahigh brightness beams.The advent of photoinjectors in state-of-the-art linear accelerators (linacs) has enabled the substantial increases in electron beam quality that have ushered in an era of new scientific capabilities, as exemplified by the introduction of the hard X-ray FEL 13 . These photoinjectors produce electron beams in electric fields of ~100 megavolts-per-metre (MV m -1 ). This injection environment largely determines key beam qualities such as the transverse emittance (phase space area) and beam brightness. The strong accelerating field restricts emittance dilution and pulse lengthening by quickly increasing the relativistic Lorentz factor of the beam, γ = (1-v 2 /c 2 ) -1/2 , where v is the electron velocity and c is the speed of light, thus diminishing these effects

The energy deposition of ions in dense plasmas is a key process in inertial confinement fusion that determines the α-particle heating expected to trigger a burn wave in the hydrogen pellet and resulting in high thermonuclear gain. However, measurements of ion stopping in plasmas are scarce and mostly restricted to high ion velocities where theory agrees with the data. Here, we report experimental data at low projectile velocities near the Bragg peak, where the stopping force reaches its maximum. This parameter range features the largest theoretical uncertainties and conclusive data are missing until today. The precision of our measurements, combined with a reliable knowledge of the plasma parameters, allows to disprove several standard models for the stopping power for beam velocities typically encountered in inertial fusion. On the other hand, our data support theories that include a detailed treatment of strong ion-electron collisions.

This report presents the conceptual design of a new European research infrastructure EuPRAXIA. The concept has been established over the last four years in a unique collaboration of 41 laboratories within a Horizon 2020 design study funded by the European Union. EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. It focuses on the development of electron accelerators and underlying technologies, their user communities, and the exploitation of existing accelerator infrastructures in Europe. EuPRAXIA has involved, amongst others, the international laser community and industry to build links and bridges with accelerator science — through realising synergies, identifying disruptive ideas, innovating, and fostering knowledge exchange. The Eu-PRAXIA project aims at the construction of an innovative electron accelerator using laser- and electron-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration that offers a significant reduction in size and possible savings in cost over current state-of-the-art radiofrequency-based accelerators. The foreseen electron energy range of one to five gigaelectronvolts (GeV) and its performance goals will enable versatile applications in various domains, e.g. as a compact free-electron laser (FEL), compact sources for medical imaging and positron generation, table-top test beams for particle detectors, as well as deeply penetrating X-ray and gamma-ray sources for material testing. EuPRAXIA is designed to be the required stepping stone to possible future plasma-based facilities, such as linear colliders at the high-energy physics (HEP) energy frontier. Consistent with a high-confidence approach, the project includes measures to retire risk by establishing scaled technology demonstrators. This report includes preliminary models for project implementation, cost and schedule that would allow operation of the full Eu-PRAXIA facility within 8—10 years.

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