Stable and High-Quality Electron Beams from Staged Laser and Plasma Wakefield Accelerators

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • F. M. Foerster - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • A. Döpp - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (Author)
  • F. Haberstroh - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • K. V. Grafenstein - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • D. Campbell - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Strathclyde (Author)
  • Y. Y. Chang - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • S. Corde - , French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Author)
  • J. P. Couperus Cabadaǧ - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • A. Debus - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • M. F. Gilljohann - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Author)
  • A. F. Habib - , University of Strathclyde (Author)
  • T. Heinemann - , University of Strathclyde, The Cockcroft Institute (Author)
  • B. Hidding - , University of Strathclyde, The Cockcroft Institute (Author)
  • A. Irman - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • F. Irshad - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • A. Knetsch - , French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Author)
  • O. Kononenko - , French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) (Author)
  • A. Martinez De La Ossa - , German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) (Author)
  • A. Nutter - , University of Strathclyde, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Author)
  • R. Pausch - , Faculty of Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • G. Schilling - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • A. Schletter - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Technical University of Munich (Author)
  • S. Schöbel - , Faculty of Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Ulrich Schramm - , Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • E. Travac - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • P. Ufer - , Faculty of Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • S. Karsch - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (Author)

Abstract

We present experimental results on a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) driven by high-current electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA). In this staged setup stable and high-quality (low-divergence and low energy spread) electron beams are generated at an optically generated hydrodynamic shock in the PWFA. The energy stability of the beams produced by that arrangement in the PWFA stage is comparable to both single-stage laser accelerators and plasma wakefield accelerators driven by conventional accelerators. Simulations support that the intrinsic insensitivity of PWFAs to driver energy fluctuations can be exploited to overcome stability limitations of state-of-the-art laser wakefield accelerators when adding a PWFA stage. Furthermore, we demonstrate the generation of electron bunches with energy spread and divergence superior to single-stage LWFAs, resulting in bunches with dense phase space and an angular-spectral charge density beyond the initial drive beam parameters. These results unambiguously show that staged LWFA-PWFA can help to tailor the electron-beam quality for certain applications and to reduce the influence of fluctuating laser drivers on the electron-beam stability. This encourages further development of this new class of staged wakefield acceleration as a viable scheme toward compact, high-quality electron beam sources.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number041016
JournalPhysical Review X
Volume12
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas