Speaker
Olena Kononenko
(Deutsches-Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY))
Description
Plasma wakefields can support very high field gradients (~ 100 GV/m)
which makes particle acceleration to ultra-relativistic energies possible
within a few millimeters. Precise control over the electron bunch phasespace
during the process of injection into the accelerating wakefield is
needed for the production of high-quality electron beams. Shaping of the
longitudinal plasma-density profile, e.g. through the use of downramps,
has been proposed as a possible controlled injection mechanism [1,2, e.g.].
In this report the study of density down-ramp injection into a plasma
wakefield using gas target of variable length is presented.
Suitable target density profiles, with a short down ramp length, preceded
by a high-density peak are of crucial importance. The target is a gas cell
with variable length of peak and plateau regions and was operated with a
helium.
The goals and first preliminary results of the experiment are presented,
including hydrodynamic simulations of the tailored target, performed using
OpenFOAM.
[1] S. Bulanov et al., Phys. Rev. E 58, R5257 (1998)
[2] H. Suk et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1011–1014 (2001)
Primary author
Olena Kononenko
(Deutsches-Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY))
Co-authors
Dr
Charlotte Palmer
(DESY)
Mr
Jason Cole
(Imperial College London)
Dr
Jens Osterhoff
(Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY)
Mr
Nelson Carreira-Lopes
(Imperial College London)
Prof.
Zulfikar Najmudin
(Imperial College London)
