Directions in plasma wakefield acceleration

Abstract

This introductory article is a synopsis of the status and prospects of particle-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA). Conceptual and experimental breakthroughs obtained over the last years have initiated a rapid growth of the research field, and increased maturity of underlying technology allows an increasing number of research groups to engage in experimental R&D. We briefly describe the fundamental mechanisms of PWFA, from which its chief attractions arise. Most importantly, this is the capability of extremely rapid acceleration of electrons and positrons at gradients many orders of magnitude larger than in conventional accelerators. This allows the size of accelerator units to be shrunk from the kilometre to metre scale, and possibly the quality of accelerated electron beam output to be improved by orders of magnitude. In turn, such compact and high-quality accelerators are potentially transformative for applications across natural, material and life sciences. This overview provides contextual background for the manuscripts of this issue, resulting from a Theo Murphy meeting held in the summer of 2018. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Directions in particle beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration’.

Free electron lasers driven by plasma accelerators: status and near-term prospects

“…In this context it is helpful that plasma-based X-FELs are now increasingly accepted to be on the map of highenergy and strong-field physics roadmaps [91][92][93] . The unique ultralow-emittance and ultrahigh-brightness beam potentials of plasma photocathodes are key features for both thrusts due to the importance of emittance and highest beam quality for high-energy physics colliders.…”

Plasma accelerator-based ultrabright x-ray beams from ultrabright electron beams

“…4,32 Linac-based PWFA, plasma photocathode R&D and hybrid LWFA→PWFA are all topics with a strong growth trajectory, and mutually are expected to reinforce and accelerate progress. 33 It is therefore anticipated that plasma photocathode-based ultralow emittance and unprecedented ultrabright 5D and 6D electron beams will be increasingly available for applications e.g. in the light source sector, even at university-scale laboratories.…”

Design, fabrication, and tuning of a THz-driven electron gun

“…To date, advances towards high gradient acceleration have been made using a variety of techniques. The leading technology is Plasma Wakefield Acceleration (PWA), in which electrons are accelerated using wakes generated by a laser or particle beam [2][3][4][5]. These experiments have demonstrated multi-GeV/m gradients and produced GeV-scale beams using staged acceleration.…”