Generation of high-quality electron beams in plasma-based acceleration is a critical and active topic in the past decade. By conducting full-scale particle-in-cell simulations, we have shown that electron beams with ultra-high brightness (10^20 ~10^21 A/m^2/rad^2) and 0.1~1 MeV energy spread can be produced in density downramp injection in the three-dimensional blowout regime of plasma-based...
We present a blueprint for an ultra-compact X-ray free-electron laser (X-FEL) powered by plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA). The study shows in a high-fidelity S2E simulation how to produce and preserve ultra-high 6D brightness electron beams in a plasma photocathode PWFA stage. Then, a post-plasma beam transport line captures, isolates and refocuses these electron beams into an undulator...
Recent advances with the Resonant Multi Pulse Ionization Injection scheme [1,2], which was already proven by simulations to be able to generate few femtosecond long 5GeV beams [3] with beam quality large enough to efficiently drive a FEL [4], move toward the generation of high-brigthness beams with duration of a few hudreds of attoseconds. At the same time, with the aid of an advanced model...
The Hundred Terawatt Undulator (HTU) beamline at the BELLA Center is being used as a test bed for the development of compact laser plasma accelerator (LPA)-driven light sources, with a particular focus on developing a reliable LPA-driven FEL. While LPA technology is well established, hurdles remain to make it usable for practical light source applications. Stability and reliability are primary...
The breakthrough provided by plasma-based accelerators enabled unprecedented accelerating fields by boosting electron beams to GeV energies within few cm.
This enables the realization of table-top accelerators able to drive a Free-Electron Laser (FEL), a formidable tool to investigate matter at sub-atomic level by generating X-UV coherent light pulses with fs and sub-fs durations.
So far,...
Laser wakefield accelerators (LWFA) have produced electron beams with up to ~10 GeV of energy in tens of centimeters. In addition to producing high accelerating gradients, theory predicts the existence of linear focusing forces when an LWFA is driven in the blowout regime, where all electrons behind the laser are expelled. Such linear fields are essential for maintaining an electron beam’s...
