Laser-plasma accelerator group

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Plasma Wakefield Accelerator Research 2019 - 2040: A community-driven UK roadmap compiled by the Plasma Wakefield Accelerator Steering Committee (PWASC)

(2019)

Authors:

Bernhard Hidding, Simon Hooker, Steven Jamison, Bruno Muratori, Christopher Murphy, Zulfikar Najmudin, Rajeev Pattathil, Gianluca Sarri, Matthew Streeter, Carsten Welsch, Matthew Wing, Guoxing Xia

Low-density hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channels generated with an axicon lens

PHYSICAL REVIEW ACCELERATORS AND BEAMS 22:4 (2019) ARTN 041302

Authors:

RJ Shalloo, C Arran, A Picksley, A von Boetticher, L Corner, J Holloway, G Hine, J Jonnerby, HM Milchberg, C Thornton, R Walczak, SM Hooker

Erratum: Emittance Preservation in an Aberration-Free Active Plasma Lens [Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 194801 (2018)].

Physical review letters 122:12 (2019) 129901-129901

Authors:

CA Lindstr酶m, E Adli, G Boyle, R Corsini, AE Dyson, W Farabolini, SM Hooker, M Meisel, J Osterhoff, J-H R枚ckemann, L Schaper, KN Sjobak

Abstract:

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.194801.

Laser-driven high-quality positron sources as possible injectors for plasma-based accelerators

Scientific Reports Nature Research 9:1 (2019) 5279

Authors:

A Alejo, Roman Walczak, G Sarri

Abstract:

The intrinsic constraints in the amplitude of the accelerating fields sustainable by radio-frequency accelerators demand for the pursuit of alternative and more compact acceleration schemes. Among these, plasma-based accelerators are arguably the most promising, thanks to the high-accelerating fields they can sustain, greatly exceeding the GeV/m. While plasma-based acceleration of electrons is now sufficiently mature for systematic studies in this direction, positron acceleration is still at its infancy, with limited projects currently undergoing to provide a viable test facility for further experiments. In this article, we study the feasibility of using a recently demonstrated laser-driven configuration as a relatively compact and inexpensive source of high-quality ultra-relativistic positrons for laser-driven and particle-driven plasma wakefield acceleration studies. Monte-Carlo simulations show that near-term high-intensity laser facilities can produce positron beams with high-current, femtosecond-scale duration, and sufficiently low normalised emittance at energies in the GeV range to be injected in further acceleration stages.

Plasma Wakefield Accelerator Research 2019 - 2040: A community-driven UK roadmap compiled by the Plasma Wakefield Accelerator Steering Committee (PWASC)

(2019)

Authors:

Bernhard Hidding, Simon Hooker, Steven Jamison, Bruno Muratori, Christopher Murphy, Zulfikar Najmudin, Rajeev Pattathil, Gianluca Sarri, Matthew Streeter, Carsten Welsch, Matthew Wing, Guoxing Xia

Abstract:

The acceleration gradients generated in a laser- or beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator are typically three orders of magnitude greater than those produced by a conventional accelerator, and hence plasma accelerators can open a route to a new generation of very compact machines. In addition, plasma-based accelerators can generate beams with unique properties, such as tens of kiloamp peak currents, attosecond bunch duration, ultrahigh brightness and intrinsic particle beam-laser pulse synchronization. In this roadmap we review the status of plasma accelerator research in the UK. We outline potential applications, describe the research and development required to enable those applications, and discuss synergies with related areas of research. We also set-out the resources required to realise these ambitions and provide a timeline for advances in the key areas.