The FACET-II facility at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory conducts a broad science program based on the interaction of low-emittance high-current 10 GeV electron beams with lasers, plasmas and solids. FACET-II operates as a National User Facility while engaging a broad User community to develop and execute experimental proposals that advance the development of plasma wakefield...
KALDERA is a novel TW-class Ti:Sapphie laser currently under development at DESY with the goal to drive a next-generation of high repetition-rate, high average-power laser-plasma accelerators. We report on the current development status of KALDERA and present commissioning results of the first 700 mJ / 100 Hz amplifier stage and its high power broadband multilayer-dielectric grating compressor...
Laser-plasma accelerators are a promising technology for compact drivers of linear colliders and secondary radiation sources. To maximize single-stage energy gain, the high-intensity drive laser pulse must be kept focused over several tens of centimeters through a sufficiently low-density plasma. Recently, we employed plasma channels based on the hydrodynamic expansion of optical field ionized...
Plasma-based acceleration technology can revolutionize particle accelerators, enabling the realization of compact systems capable of driving different user-oriented applications.
We propose developing a laser-based, high repetition rate (HRR), highly stable and tunable plasma filament stage for beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) systems. The plasma filament, generated by a...
Plasma-wakefield acceleration holds great promise for particle physics due to its orders-of-magnitude higher accelerating gradients, which can result in significant cost reductions based on a sizeable reduction in footprint. However, plasma-based acceleration of positronsโrequired for an electron-positron colliderโis much more difficult than for electrons. In 2023 a novel collider scheme,...
In the context of plasma wakefield acceleration, resonances can be exploited to generate large-amplitude wakefields, using a train of relativistic particle bunches with frequency content close to the plasma electron frequency, to accelerate a trailing bunch.
We show with experimental results and numerical simulations that the wakefields driven by individual successive bunches in overdense...
The longitudinal structure of ultra-short electron bunches generated by Laser wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) is strongly shaped by the rapid injection dynamics and the interaction between the laser and the electron beam throughout the acceleration process. A detailed understanding of these bunch structures is essential for advancing compact FELs and further secondary light sources.
We...
The EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB project aims to develop a compact, high-brightness FEL user facility based on plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA). To drive the plasma module, a normal-conducting RF linac employing X-band technology is foreseen. The linac features an S-band photoinjector followed by an X-band booster composed of sixteen 1.05โฏm-long traveling wave accelerating structures operating at...
Laser-plasma acceleration has enormous potential to provide compact sources of ultra-short ion beams. Several factors, such as the low shot-to-shot stability, large beam divergence and the difficulty of high-repetition rate operation, hamper their wider adoption. Recent work demonstrates an approach for overcoming these challenges using a novel liquid sheet target, developed at the SLAC...
We report the detection of directional muon beams generated by a compact
petawatt-class laser-plasma wakefield accelerator (LPA). Multi-GeV electron bunches are generated and accelerated in a 30 cm plasma and subsequently converted into high-flux, directional muon beams through pair production in a high-Z target. Muons are unambiguously identified and characterized using a scintillator-based...
The EuPRAXIA (European Plasma Research Accelerator with eXcellence In Applications) project represents a pivotal step forward in the development and implementation of compact plasma-based particle accelerators in Europe. As a pan-European initiative, EuPRAXIA is building the foundation for a novel concept of distributed research infrastructure. The recent selection of the second implementation...
We will present the latest results of the commissioning campaign of the E6-10 PW experimental area of ELI-NP, dedicated to High-Field QED physics. The laser was operated up to nominal power (230J, 23fs) and by shooting onto a gas jet target via a long focal spherical mirror. Stable multi-GeV electron beam were obtained and used to generate intense and energetic photon beams via bremsstrahlung,...
Particle-driven wakefield acceleration (PWFA) promises the generation of high-brightness relativistic beams, as it allows dephasing-free acceleration and the implementation of various cold injection schemes, unlike laser-driven wakefield acceleration (LWFA). To keep the whole accelerator compact, generating the PWFA driver beam via LWFA is a promising concept [1] and the first proof of...
Laser-plasma accelerators produce electron beams whose properties depend on a complex, nonlinear relationship between numerous laser and plasma parameters. Neural networks offer a powerful tool for modelling this relationship using experimental datasets. In this talk, I will present results from training such models and using them to predict electron spectra prior to the onset of radiation...
The Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA) is a beam test facility with a core mission of advancing structure wakefield acceleration (SWFA) technologies for future high-energy linear colliders, compact FELs, and related applications. It supports both Two-Beam Acceleration (TBA) and Collinear Wakefield Acceleration (CWA) by producing diverse electron bunch formats, including 100 nC bunches with...
Radiotherapy is one of the mainstream methods for cancer treatment. In recent years, the use of very high energy electron beams (VHEE, generally with energies between 50MeV and 300MeV) for deep tumor radiotherapy has been very active in international research. Due to its superior dose deposition characteristics compared to traditional X-rays and its pencil beam scanning capability comparable...
The realization of compact, broadband X-ray sources is one of the most promising applications of laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs). State-of-the-art LPA-based X-ray sources currently deliver photon fluxes exceeding 10ยนยน photons per shot [1]. In this contribution, we present a summary of compact X-ray sources offered to user applications at the ELI Beamlines facility. One of the key developments...
Advances in short-pulse near-infrared laser technology have significantly expanded access to the relativistic regime of laserโplasma interactions, enabling new approaches for compact, high-energy proton acceleration. A primary objective is to produce stable, high-charge proton beams suitable for applications such as proton radiography, hadron therapy, and medical isotope generation. Proton...
High peak power lasers are ideal drivers for compact, high-brightness particle and radiation sources.
Day-to-day application of laser-driven sources in fields such as industry, healthcare and security requires drivers operating at high pulse rates with high reliability and reproducibility.
This talk will provide an overview of current and emerging laser driver technologies and an analysis...
Plasma accelerators have demonstrated significant milestones, from producing 10 GeV electron beams in wakefield acceleration, high-gain free-electron laser operation, energy boosting of electrons, to reaching stable (ultra-short, nC-class) proton acceleration that enable studies of ultrahigh dose-rate radiobiology. Now, the community is setting sight on integrating plasma acceleration deep...
Recent ~10 GeV laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) experiments have been made possible by low-density hydrodynamic plasma waveguides generated by femtosecond Bessel beams in meter-scale supersonic gas jets. Such jets and Bessel beam optics will likely be critical components in next-generation experiments surpassing 10 GeV. Here I describe our gas jet and Bessel beam development, along with...
High-resolution temporal diagnostics are essential for the development and optimization of next-generation high-brightness accelerators. This talk presents recent advances in wakefield-based diagnostics which enable single-shot, femtosecond-resolved measurements of ultra-short electron bunches. These diagnostics, based on the time-dependent transverse kick induced by beam-driven wakefields in...
Laser plasma-based ion accelerators have not yet reached their full potential in producing high radiation doses at high particle energies, mainly due to the lack of a suitable high-repetition-rate targets that also provide adequate control of the plasma conditions. Cryogenic solid gas jet targets are being developed to fill this gap, as they combine many favourable properties for studying...
DESY is pursuing an ambitious laser-plasma injector option for its future flagship high-energy synchrotron light source PETRA IV. Operating at 6 GeV the PETRA IV Plasma Injector will deliver low emittance electron bunches to support all foreseen operation modes. This talk will cover start-to-end simulations of the LPA injector, injection efficiency and charge accumulation in the storage ring,...
