Beam parameter optimization in accelerators involves multiple, sometimes competing objectives. Condensing these individual objectives into a single figure of merit unavoidably results in a bias towards particular outcomes, in absence of prior knowledge often in a non-desired way. Finding an optimal objective definition then requires operators to iterate over many possible objective weights and definitions, a process that can take many times longer than the optimization itself. A more versatile approach is multi-objective optimization, which establishes the trade-off curve or Pareto front between objectives. Here we present the first results on multi-objective Bayesian optimization of a simulated laser-plasma accelerator. We find that multi-objective optimization reaches comparable performance to its single-objective counterparts while allowing for instant evaluation of entirely new objectives. This dramatically reduces the time required to find appropriate objective definitions for new problems. Additionally, our multi-objective, multi-fidelity method reduces the time required for an optimization run by an order of magnitude. It does so by dynamically choosing simulation resolution and box size, requiring fewer slow and expensive simulations as it learns about the Pareto-optimal solutions from fast low-resolution runs. The techniques demonstrated in this paper can easily be translated into many different computational and experimental use cases beyond accelerator optimization.
Over the last decades, significant advances in high-power laser systems have enabled rapid progress in the development of laser-driven plasma accelerators. Today, the results obtained in beam stability and reproducibility present laser plasma acceleration as a viable and promising alternative to conventional accelerators. As several electron beam and secondary sources applications require high average currents, a major focus is now on increasing the beam's repetition rate. In the following, we introduce a novel plasma source for kHz electron acceleration, providing a continuous and spatially c…
A similarity theory is developed for ultra-relativistic laser-plasmas. It is shown that the most fundamental S-similarity is valid for both under- and overdense plasmas. Optimal scalings for laser wake field electron acceleration are obtained heuristically. The strong message of the present work is that the bubble acceleration regime [see Pukhov, Meyer-ter-Vehn, Appl. Phys. B, vol. 74, 355 (2002)] satisfies these optimal scalings.
Dynamics of self-injected electron bunches has been numerically simulated in blowout regime at self-consistent change of electron bunch acceleration by plasma wakefield, excited by a laser pulse, to additional their acceleration by wakefield, excited by self-injected bunch. Advantages of acceleration by pulse train and bunch self-cleaning have been considered.
Plasma-based accelerators offer accelerating fields orders of magnitude higher than conventional radio-frequency cavities. However, these accelerating fields are typically coupled with strong focusing fields, which can result in significant radiative energy loss at high energies. In this work, we present a new accelerator configuration, the Matryoshka channel, a hollow plasma channel stabilized by a hollow plasma filament. We demonstrate that the absence of on-axis focusing plasma fields greatly reduces radiation losses, allowing acceleration to the TeV frontier.
Plasma wakefield acceleration studies currently rely considerably on simulating this effect numerically using highly specialized software. Exorbitant computational difficulty of the problem requires simplifying models and methods,limiting such software applicability. Quasistatic approximation, for example, utilizes a plasma model that does not include trapping plasma electrons by the wakefield. This article presents a method that reuses a quasistatic plasma-beam solver to calculate parameters of wakefield-trapped plasma electrons.
Plasma accelerators sustain extreme field gradients, and potentially enable future compact linear colliders. Although tremendous progress has been achieved in accelerating electron beams in a plasma accelerator, positron acceleration with collider-relevant parameters is challenging. A recently proposed positron acceleration scheme relying on the wake generated by an electron drive beam in a plasma column has been shown to be able to accelerate positron witness beams with low emittance and low energy spread. However, since this scheme relies on cylindrical symmetry, it is possibly prone to tran…
This is brief review of acceleration of electrons in plasma wakefields driven by either intense laser pulses or particle beams following lectures at the 2019 CERN Accelerator School on plasma accelerators, held at Sesimbra, Portugal. The commonalities between drivers and their strength parameters and operating parameter regimes for current experiments in laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) and beam driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) are summarized. Energy limitations are introduced, including the dephasing and depletion lengths for lasers, and the transformer ratio for beam driven pla…
Plasma Wakefield Accelerators promise huge acceleration gradients that are three orders of magnitude greater than today's conventional radio frequency (RF) accelerators. These novel accelerators show also the potential of diminishing the size of the future accelerators nearly by the same factor. This review gives brief explanations and the working principles of the Plasma Wakefield Accelerators and shows the recent developments of the field. The current challenges are given and the potential future use of the Plasma Wakefield Accelerators are discussed.
A new scheme for accelerating positively charged particles in a plasma wakefield accelerator is proposed. If the proton drive beam propagates in a hollow plasma channel, and the beam radius is of order of the channel width, the space charge force of the driver causes charge separation at the channel wall, which helps to focus the positively charged witness bunch propagating along the beam axis. In the channel, the acceleration buckets for positively charged particles are much larger than in the blowout regime of the uniform plasma, and stable acceleration over long distances is possible. In ad…
Hollow plasma channels are attractive for lepton acceleration because they provide intrinsic emittance preservation regimes. However, beam breakup instabilities dominate the dynamics. Here, we show that thin, warm hollow channels can sustain large-amplitude plasma waves ready for high-quality positron acceleration. We verify that the combination of warm electrons and thin hollow channel enables positron focusing structures. Such focusing wakefields unlock beam breakup damping mechanisms. We demonstrate that such channels emerge self-consistently during the long-term plasma dynamics in the blow…
A new regime of proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration is discovered, in which the plasma nonlinearity increases the phase velocity of the excited wave compared to that of the protons. If the beam charge is much larger than minimally necessary to excite a nonlinear wave, there is sufficient freedom in choosing the longitudinal plasma density profile to make the wave speed close to the speed of light. This allows electrons or positrons to be accelerated to about 200 GeV with a 400 GeV proton driver.
A train of short charged particle bunches can efficiently drive a strong plasma wakefield over a long propagation distance only if all bunches reside in focusing and decelerating phases of the wakefield. This is shown possible with equidistant bunch trains, but requires the bunch charge to increase along the train and the plasma frequency to be higher than the bunch repetition frequency.
We expand on the material that was published in the previous Proceedings of the CERN Accelerator School on Plasma Wakefield Acceleration. The material focused on Plasma Wakefield Acceleration in the short, narrow bunch regime. After a brief introduction, we describe Plasma Wakefield Acceleration driven by a bunch train. We then attempt to give simple and intuitive descriptions of bunch self-modulation, occurring when the bunch is long, and of current filamentation, occurring when the bunch is wide. Self-modulation is a means to use existing bunches carrying large amounts of energy to drive pla…
Heavy ion driven plasma wakefield acceleration with drift-like phase-shift acceleration scheme
Institute of Modern physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院近代物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；University of Manchester（曼彻斯特大学）；Cockcroft Institute（科克沃尔研究所）
The paper presents the results of numerical PIC-simulation of positron bunch focusing when acceleration in a plasma dielectric wakefield accelerator. The wakefield was excited by drive electron bunch in quartz dielectric tube, embedded in cylindrical metal waveguide. The internal area of dielectric tube has been filled with radially homogeneous plasma having in general case the vacuum channel along waveguide axis. Results of numerical PIC simulation have shown that it is possible a simultaneous acceleration and focusing of test positron bunch in the wakefield. The dependence of transport and a…
The attainable transformer ratio in plasma accelerators is limited by instabilities. Using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that these can be controlled using a hollow plasma channel with a co-axial plasma filament. The driver scatters electrons from the filament, and the slow pinch of the ions leads to a strong chirp of the effective betatron frequency, preventing beam breakup. We demonstrate the monoenergetic acceleration of an electron bunch to 20 GeV over 4.4 m, achieving a transformer ratio of 10, an energy efficiency of 40% and an emittance of 1.8 um.
We show that both the maximum energy gain and the accelerated beam quality can be efficiently controlled by the plasma density profile. Choosing a proper density gradient one can uplift the dephasing limitation. When a periodic wake field is exploited, the phase synchronism between the bunch of relativistic particles and the plasma wave can be maintained over extended distances due to the plasma density gradient. Putting electrons into the $n-$th wake period behind the driving laser pulse, the maximum energy gain is increased by the factor $2πn$ over that in the case of uniform plasma. The acc…
Presently available high-energy proton beams in circular accelerators carry enough momentum to accelerate high-intensity electron and positron beams to the TeV energy scale over several hundred meters of the plasma with a density of about 1e15 1/cm^3. However, the plasma wavelength at this density is 100-1000 times shorter than the typical longitudinal size of the high-energy proton beam. Therefore the self-modulation instability (SMI) of a long (~10 cm) proton beam in the plasma should be used to create the train of micro-bunches which would then drive the plasma wake resonantly. Changing the…
The dynamics of wave-particle interactions in magnetized plasmas restricts the wave amplitude to moderate values for particle beam acceleration from rest energy. We analyze how a perturbing invariant robust barrier modifies the phase space of the system and enlarges the wave amplitude interval for particle acceleration. For low values of the wave amplitude, the acceleration becomes effective for particles with initial energy close to the rest energy. For higher values of the wave amplitude, the robust barrier controls chaos in the system and restores the acceleration process. We also determine…
Three dimensional particle in cell simulations are used for studying proton driven plasma wake-field acceleration that uses a high-energy proton bunch to drive a plasma wake-field for electron beam acceleration. A new parameter regime was found which generates essentially constant electric field that is three orders magnitudes larger than that of AWAKE design, i.e. of the order of $2 \times 10^{3}$ GV/m. This is achieved in the the extreme blowout regime, when number density of the driving proton bunch exceeds plasma electron number density 100 times.
Effects of plasma inhomogeneity on self-modulating proton bunches and accelerated electrons were studied numerically. The main effect is the change of the wakefield wavelength which results in phase shifts and loss of accelerated particles. This effect imposes severe constraints on density uniformity in plasma wakefield accelerators driven by long particle bunches. The transverse two stream instability that transforms the long bunch into a train of micro-bunches is less sensitive to density inhomogeneity than are the accelerated particles. The bunch freely passes through increased density regi…
Plasma wakefield acceleration in the blowout regime is particularly promising for high-energy acceleration of electron beams because of its potential to simultaneously provide large acceleration gradients and high energy transfer efficiency while maintaining excellent beam quality. However, no equivalent regime for positron acceleration in plasma wakes has been discovered to-date. We show that after a short propagation distance, an asymmetric electron beam drives a stable wakefield in a hollow plasma channel that can be both accelerating and focusing for a positron beam. A high charge positron…
We propose a plasma-based high-energy lepton accelerator, in which a weakly focusing plasma structure is formed near the beam axis. The structure preserves the emittance of the accelerated beam and produces low radiation losses. Moreover, the structure allows for a considerable decrease of the witness energy spread at the driver depletion stage.
An overview of research on laser-plasma based acceleration of ions is given. The experimental state of the art is summarized and recent progress is discussed. The basic acceleration processes are briefly reviewed with an outlook on hybrid mechanisms and novel concepts. Finally, we put focus on the development of engineered targets for enhanced acceleration and of all-optical methods for beam post-acceleration and control.
We propose a setup for positron acceleration consisting of an electron driver and a laser pulse creating a two-fold plasma column structure. The resulting wakefield is capable of accelerating positron bunches over long distances even when evolution of the driver is considered. The scheme is studied by means of particle-in-cell simulations. Further, the analytical expression for the accelerating and focusing fields are obtained, showing the equilibrium lines along which the witness bunch is accelerated.
The Bubble regime of electron acceleration in ultra-relativistic laser plasma is considered. It has been shown that the bubble can produce ultra-short dense bunches of electrons with quasi-monoenergetic energy spectra. The first experiment in this regime done at LOA has confirmed the peaked electron spectrum (J. Faure, et al., {\it submitted}, 2004). The generated electron bunch may have density an order of magnitude higher than that of the background plasma. The bubble is able to guide the laser pulse over many Rayleigh lengths, thus no preformed plasma channel is needed for high-energy parti…
We present methods and preliminary observations of two pulse Direct Laser Acceleration in a Laser-Driven Plasma Accelerator. This acceleration mechanism uses a second co-propagating laser pulse to overlap and further accelerate electrons in a wakefield bubble, increasing energy at the cost of emittance when compared to traditional laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). To this end, we introduce a method of femtosecond scale control of time delay between two co-propagating pulses. We show energy enhancement when the separation between the two pulses approaches the bubble radius.
Plasma Wakefield Acceleration represents one of the most promising techniques able to overcome the limits of conventional RF technology and make possible the development of compact accelerators. With respect to the laser-driven schemes, the beam-driven scenario is not limited by diffraction and dephasing issues, thus it allows to achieve larger acceleration lengths. One of the most prominent drawback, conversely, occurs at the end of the acceleration process and consists of removing the depleted high-charge driver while preserving the main features (emittance and peak current) of the accelerat…
Laser wakefield accelerators rely on the extremely high electric fields of nonlinear plasma waves to trap and accelerate electrons to relativistic energies over short distances. When driven strongly enough, plasma waves break, trapping a large population of the background electrons that support their motion. This limits the maximum electric field. Here we introduce a novel regime of plasma wave excitation and wakefield acceleration that removes this limit, allowing for arbitrarily high electric fields. The regime, enabled by spatiotemporal shaping of laser pulses, exploits the property that no…
It is shown that co-linear injection of electrons or positrons into the wakefield of the self-modulating particle beam is possible and ensures high energy gain. The witness beam must co-propagate with the tail part of the driver, since the plasma wave phase velocity there can exceed the light velocity, which is necessary for efficient acceleration. If the witness beam is many wakefield periods long, then the trapped charge is limited by beam loading effects. The initial trapping is better for positrons, but at the acceleration stage a considerable fraction of positrons is lost from the wave. F…
Plasma wakefield acceleration, either laser driven or electron-bunch driven, has been demonstrated to hold great potential. However, it is not obvious how to scale these approaches to bring particles up to the TeV regime. In this paper, we discuss the possibility of proton-bunch driven plasma wakefield acceleration, and show that high energy electron beams could potentially be produced in a single accelerating stage.
We measure the emission of energetic electrons from the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses and a solid density plasma in the relativistic regime. We detect an electron beam that only appears with few-cycle pulses (< 10 fs) and large plasma scale lengths ($L > λ_0$). Numerical simulations, in agreement with the experiments, reveal that these electrons are accelerated by a laser wakefield. Plasma waves are indeed resonantly excited by the few-cycle laser pulses in the near-critical-density region of the plasma. Electrons are then injected by ionization into the plasma waves and accelera…
Coulomb implosion mechanism of the negatively charged ion acceleration in laser plasmas is proposed. When a cluster target is irradiated by an intense laser pulse and the Coulomb explosion of positively charged ions occurs, the negative ions are accelerated inward. The maximum energy of negative ions is several times lower than that of positive ions. The theoretical description and Particle-in-Cell simulation of the Coulomb implosion mechanism and the evidence of the negative ion acceleration in the experiments on the high intensity laser pulse interaction with the cluster targets are presente…
We show that electron betatron resonance acceleration by an ultra-intense ultra-short laser pulse in a near critical density plasma works as a high-brightness gamma-ray source. Compared with laser plasma X-ray sources in under-dense plasma, near critical density plasma provides three benefits for electron radiation: more radiation electrons, larger transverse amplitude, and higher betatron oscillation frequency. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, by using a 7.4J laser pulse, 8.3mJ radiation with critical photon energy 1MeV is emitted. The critical photon energy $E_c$ inc…
The acceleration of polarized electron beams in the blowout regime of plasma-based acceleration is explored. An analytical model for the spin precession of single beam electrons, and depolarization rates of zero emittance electron beams, is derived. The role of finite emittance is examined numerically by solving the equations for the spin precession with a spin tracking algorithm. The analytical model is in very good agreement with the results from 3D particle-in-cell simulations in the limits of validity of our theory. Our work shows that the beam depolarization is lower for high-energy accel…
The plasma wakefield amplitudes which could be achieved via the modulation of a long proton bunch are investigated. We find that in the limit of long bunches compared to the plasma wavelength, the strength of the accelerating fields is directly proportional to the number of particles in the drive bunch and inversely proportional to the square of the transverse bunch size. The scaling laws were tested and verified in detailed simulations using parameters of existing proton accelerators, and large electric fields were achieved, reaching 1 GV/m for LHC bunches. Energy gains for test electrons bey…
The present numerical investigation of a Plasma Wakefield Acceleration scenario in the weakly non linear regime with external injection is motivated by the upcoming campaigns at the SPARC\_LAB test facility where the final goal is to demonstrate modest gradient acceleration ($\sim$1 GV/m) with no quality loss. The accelerated bunch can be envisioned to seed a free electron laser. The numerical study has been conducted with the particle-in-cell code ${\tt ALaDyn}$, an exhaustive description of the plasma-acceleration version is provided. The configuration consider a two bunches setup with param…
Recent simulations have shown that a high-energy proton bunch can excite strong plasma wakefields and accelerate a bunch of electrons to the energy frontier in a single stage of acceleration. This scheme could lead to a future $ep$ collider using the LHC for the proton beam and a compact electron accelerator of length 170 m, producing electrons of energy up to 100 GeV. The parameters of such a collider are discussed as well as conceptual layouts within the CERN accelerator complex. The physics of plasma wakefield acceleration will also be introduced, with the AWAKE experiment, a proof of princ…
We demonstrate that laser reflection acts as a catalyst for superponderomotive electron production in the preplasma formed by relativistic multipicosecond lasers incident on solid density targets. In 1D particle-in-cell simulations, high energy electron production proceeds via two stages of direct laser acceleration, an initial stochastic backward stage, and a final non-stochastic forward stage. The initial stochastic stage, driven by the reflected laser pulse, provides the pre-acceleration needed to enable the final stage to be non-stochastic. Energy gain in the electrostatic potential, which…
We show using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations and theoretical analysis that a high-quality electron beam whose density is modulated at angstrom scales can be generated directly using density downramp injection in a periodically modulated density in nonlinear plasma wave wakefields. The density modulation turns on and off the injection of electrons at the period of the modulation. Due to the unique longitudinal mapping between the electrons' initial positions and their final trapped positions inside the wake, this results in an electron beam with density modulation at a wavelength orders of …
It is shown through analytical modeling and numerical simulations that external magnetic fields can relax the self-trapping thresholds in plasma based accelerators. In addition, the transverse location where self-trapping occurs can be selected by adequate choice of the spatial profile of the external magnetic field. We also find that magnetic-field assisted self-injection can lead to the emission of betatron radiation at well defined frequencies. This controlled injection technique could be explored using state-of-the-art magnetic fields in current/next generation plasma/laser wakefield accel…
These proceedings are of interest to staff and students in accelerator laboratories, university departments and companies working in or having an interest in the field of new acceleration techniques. Following introductory lectures on plasma and laser physics, the course covers the different components of a plasma wake accelerator and plasma beam systems. Topical seminars and an overview about alternative new techniques like dielectric accelerators are included. Lectures on the experimental studies and their latest results, on diagnostic tools and state of the art wake acceleration facilities,…
