Observation of plasma focusing of a 28.5 GeV positron beam

Collective energy-spectrum broadening of a proton beam in a gas-discharge plasma

An accurate understanding of ion-beam transport in plasmas is crucial for applications in inertial fusion energy and high-energy-density physics. We present an experimental measurement on the energy spectrum of a proton beam at 270 keV propagating through a gas-discharge hydrogen plasma. We observe the energies of the beam protons changing as a function of the plasma density and spectrum broadening due to a collective beam-plasma interaction. Supported by linear theory and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we attribute this energy modulation to a two-stream instability excitation and further saturation by beam ion trapping in the wave. The widths of the energy spectrum from both experiment and simulation agree with the theory.

Laser-Driven Electron Lensing in Silicon Microstructures

We demonstrate a laser-driven, tunable electron lens fabricated in monolithic silicon. The lens consists of an array of silicon pillars pumped symmetrically by two 300 fs, 1.95  μm wavelength, nJ-class laser pulses from an optical parametric amplifier. The optical near field of the pillar structure focuses electrons in the plane perpendicular to the pillar axes. With 100±10  MV/m incident laser fields, the lens focal length is measured to be 50±4  μm, which corresponds to an equivalent quadrupole focusing gradient B^{'} of 1.4±0.1  MT/m. By varying the incident laser field strength, the lens can be tuned from a 21±2  μm focal length (B^{'}>3.3  MT/m) to focal lengths on the centimeter scale.

Electron and Positron Beam–Driven Plasma Acceleration

Particle accelerators are the ultimate microscopes. They produce high energy beams of particles — or, in some cases, generate X-ray laser pulses — to probe the fundamental particles and forces that make up the universe and to explore the building blocks of life. But it takes huge accelerators, like the Large Hadron Collider or the two-mile-long SLAC linac, to generate beams with enough energy and resolving power. If we could achieve the same thing with accelerators just a few meters long, accelerators and particle colliders could be much smaller and cheaper. Since the first theoretical work in the early 1980s, an exciting series of experiments have aimed at accelerating electrons and positrons to high energies in a much shorter distance by having them “surf” on waves of hot, ionized gas like that found in fluorescent light tubes. Electron-beam-driven experiments have measured the integrated and dynamic aspects of plasma focusing, the bright flux of high energy betatron radiation photons, particle beam refraction at the plasma–neutral-gas interface, and the structure and amplitude of the accelerating wakefield. Gradients spanning kT/m to MT/m for focusing and 100[Formula: see text]MeV/m to 50[Formula: see text]GeV/m for acceleration have been excited in meter-long plasmas with densities of 10[Formula: see text]–10[Formula: see text][Formula: see text]cm[Formula: see text], respectively. Positron-beam-driven experiments have evidenced the more complex dynamic and integrated plasma focusing, 100[Formula: see text]MeV/m to 5[Formula: see text]GeV/m acceleration in linear and nonlinear plasma waves, and explored the dynamics of hollow channel plasma structures. Strongly beam-loaded plasma waves have accelerated beams of electrons and positrons with hundreds of pC of charge to over 5[Formula: see text]GeV in meter scale plasmas with high efficiency and narrow energy spread. These “plasma wakefield acceleration” experiments have been mounted by a diverse group of accelerator, laser and plasma researchers from national laboratories and universities around the world. This article reviews the basic principles of plasma wakefield acceleration with electron and positron beams, the current state of understanding, the push for first applications and the long range R&D roadmap toward a high energy collider.

Invited Review Article: "Hands-on" laser-driven ion acceleration: A primer for laser-driven source development and potential applications

An overview of progress and typical yields from intense laser-plasma acceleration of ions is presented. The evolution of laser-driven ion acceleration at relativistic intensities ushers prospects for improved functionality and diverse applications which can represent a varied assortment of ion beam requirements. This mandates the development of the integrated laser-driven ion accelerator system, the multiple components of which are described. Relevant high field laser-plasma science and design of controlled optimum pulsed laser irradiation on target are dominant single shot (pulse) considerations with aspects that are appropriate to the emerging petawatt era. The pulse energy scaling of maximum ion energies and typical differential spectra obtained over the past two decades provide guidance for continued advancement of laser-driven energetic ion sources and their meaningful applications.

Active Plasma Lensing for Relativistic Laser-Plasma-Accelerated Electron Beams

Compact, tunable, radially symmetric focusing of electrons is critical to laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) applications. Experiments are presented demonstrating the use of a discharge-capillary active plasma lens to focus 100-MeV-level LPA beams. The lens can provide tunable field gradients in excess of 3000 T/m, enabling cm-scale focal lengths for GeV-level beam energies and allowing LPA-based electron beams and light sources to maintain their compact footprint. For a range of lens strengths, excellent agreement with simulation was obtained.

Demonstration of relativistic electron beam focusing by a laser-plasma lens

Laser-plasma technology promises a drastic reduction of the size of high-energy electron accelerators. It could make free-electron lasers available to a broad scientific community and push further the limits of electron accelerators for high-energy physics. Furthermore, the unique femtosecond nature of the source makes it a promising tool for the study of ultrafast phenomena. However, applications are hindered by the lack of suitable lens to transport this kind of high-current electron beams mainly due to their divergence. Here we show that this issue can be solved by using a laser-plasma lens in which the field gradients are five order of magnitude larger than in conventional optics. We demonstrate a reduction of the divergence by nearly a factor of three, which should allow for an efficient coupling of the beam with a conventional beam transport line.

Laser-driven plasmas can accelerate electrons in set-ups far smaller than conventional particle accelerators, but beam divergence is a problem. Here, the authors demonstrate a laser-plasma lens that can focus the beam thanks to field gradients five order of magnitude larger than using traditional optics.

Halo formation and emittance growth of positron beams in plasmas

An ultrarelativistic 28.5 GeV, 700-microm-long positron bunch is focused near the entrance of a 1.4-m-long plasma with a density n(e) between approximately equal to 10(13) and approximately equal to 5 x 10(14) cm(-3). Partial neutralization of the bunch space charge by the mobile plasma electrons results in a reduction in transverse size by a factor of approximately equal to 3 in the high emittance plane of the beam approximately equal to 1 m downstream from the plasma exit. As n(e) increases, the formation of a beam halo containing approximately 40% of the total charge is observed, indicating that the plasma focusing force is nonlinear. Numerical simulations confirm these observations. The bunch with an incoming transverse size ratio of approximately 3 and emittance ratio of approximately 5 suffers emittance growth and exits the plasma with approximately equal sizes and emittances.

Basic concepts in plasma accelerators

In this article, we present the underlying physics and the present status of high gradient and high-energy plasma accelerators. With the development of compact short pulse high-brightness lasers and electron and positron beams, new areas of studies for laser/particle beam-matter interactions is opening up. A number of methods are being pursued vigorously to achieve ultra-high-acceleration gradients. These include the plasma beat wave accelerator (PBWA) mechanism which uses conventional long pulse ( approximately 100 ps) modest intensity lasers (I approximately 10(14)-10(16) W cm(-2)), the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) which uses the new breed of compact high-brightness lasers (<1 ps) and intensities >10(18) W cm(-2), self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator (SMLWFA) concept which combines elements of stimulated Raman forward scattering (SRFS) and electron acceleration by nonlinear plasma waves excited by relativistic electron and positron bunches the plasma wakefield accelerator. In the ultra-high intensity regime, laser/particle beam-plasma interactions are highly nonlinear and relativistic, leading to new phenomenon such as the plasma wakefield excitation for particle acceleration, relativistic self-focusing and guiding of laser beams, high-harmonic generation, acceleration of electrons, positrons, protons and photons. Fields greater than 1 GV cm(-1) have been generated with monoenergetic particle beams accelerated to about 100 MeV in millimetre distances recorded. Plasma wakefields driven by both electron and positron beams at the Stanford linear accelerator centre (SLAC) facility have accelerated the tail of the beams.

Hose instability and wake generation by an intense electron beam in a self-ionized gas

The propagation of an intense relativistic electron beam through a gas that is self-ionized by the beam's space charge and wakefields is examined analytically and with 3D particle-in-cell simulations. Instability arises from the coupling between a beam and the offset plasma channel it creates when it is perturbed. The traditional electron hose instability in a preformed plasma is replaced with this slower growth instability depending on the radius of the ionization channel compared to the electron blowout radius. A new regime for hose stable plasma wakefield acceleration is suggested.

Multi-GeV energy gain in a plasma-wakefield accelerator

A plasma-wakefield accelerator has accelerated particles by over 2.7 GeV in a 10 cm long plasma module. A 28.5 GeV electron beam with 1.8 x 10(10) electrons is compressed to 20 microm longitudinally and focused to a transverse spot size of 10 microm at the entrance of a 10 cm long column of lithium vapor with density 2.8 x 10(17) atoms/cm3. The electron bunch fully ionizes the lithium vapor to create a plasma and then expels the plasma electrons. These electrons return one-half plasma period later driving a large amplitude plasma wake that in turn accelerates particles in the back of the bunch by more than 2.7 GeV.

Plasma-wakefield acceleration of an intense positron beam

Plasma wakefields are both excited and probed by propagating an intense 28.5 GeV positron beam through a 1.4 m long lithium plasma. The main body of the beam loses energy in exciting this wakefield while positrons in the back of the same beam can be accelerated by the same wakefield as it changes sign. The scaling of energy loss with plasma density as well as the energy gain seen at the highest plasma density is in excellent agreement with simulations.

Ultrarelativistic-positron-beam transport through meter-scale plasmas

We report on the first study of the dynamic transverse forces imparted to an ultrarelativistic positron beam by a long plasma in the underdense regime. Focusing of the 28.5 GeV beam is observed from time-resolved beam profiles after the 1.4 m plasma. The strength of the imparted force varies along the approximately 12 ps full length of the bunch as well as with plasma density. Computer simulations substantiate the longitudinal aberration seen in the data and reveal mechanisms for emittance degradation.

Synchrotron radiation from electron beams in plasma-focusing channels

Spontaneous radiation emitted from relativistic electrons undergoing betatron motion in a plasma-focusing channel is analyzed, and applications to plasma wake-field accelerator experiments and to the ion-channel laser (ICL) are discussed. Important similarities and differences between a free electron laser (FEL) and an ICL are delineated. It is shown that the frequency of spontaneous radiation is a strong function of the betatron strength parameter a(beta), which plays a role similar to that of the wiggler strength parameter in a conventional FEL. For a(beta) > or approximately 1, radiation is emitted in numerous harmonics. Furthermore, a(beta) is proportional to the amplitude of the betatron orbit, which varies for every electron in the beam. The radiation spectrum emitted from an electron beam is calculated by averaging the single-electron spectrum over the electron distribution. This leads to a frequency broadening of the radiation spectrum, which places serious limits on the possibility of realizing an ICL.

Transverse envelope dynamics of a 28.5-GeV electron beam in a long plasma

The transverse dynamics of a 28.5-GeV electron beam propagating in a 1.4 m long, (0-2)x10(14) cm(-3) plasma are studied experimentally in the underdense or blowout regime. The transverse component of the wake field excited by the short electron bunch focuses the bunch, which experiences multiple betatron oscillations as the plasma density is increased. The spot-size variations are observed using optical transition radiation and Cherenkov radiation. In this regime, the behavior of the spot size as a function of the plasma density is well described by a simple beam-envelope model. Dynamic changes of the beam envelope are observed by time resolving the Cherenkov light.