DOE OSTI · 3016925
Plasma-wakefield accelerator simultaneously boosts electron beam energy and brightness
Abstract
High-energy particle colliders and X-ray free-electron lasers demand electron beams with qualities currently achieved only in kilometer-scale radio-frequency accelerators. Plasma accelerators promise a compact alternative but have faced challenges in delivering the needed beam quality at relevant energies. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma-wakefield accelerator operating in the nonlinear regime acts as a transformer to simultaneously boost the energy and brightness of an electron bunch injected from the plasma. Using a 10-GeV drive bunch and a three-stage meter-scale plasma source, we generated electron bunches exceeding 20 GeV with sub-percent energy spread, 2 mm·mrad normalized emittance, and multi-kA peak current. A significant number of drive-bunch electrons lost over 90% of their energy, a prerequisite for high energy-conversion efficiency. This demonstration of an energy transformer ratio exceeding two and a brightness enhancement over an order of magnitude opens a path towards cost-effective accelerators for future colliders and light sources.
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Zhang, Chaojie [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000180353014), Storey, Douglas [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000160589206), Knetsch, Alexander [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000172899228), O’Shea, Brendan D. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)], Ariniello, Robert [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)], Cao, Gevy J. [Univ. of Oslo (Norway)], Corde, Sébastien [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau (France)] (ORCID:0000000250150387), Dalichaouch, Thamine N. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)], Emma, Claudio [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)], Finnerud, Ole G. [Univ. of Oslo (Norway)] (ORCID:0000000253629473), Gessner, Spencer [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000297131116), Hansel, Claire [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)], Hansen, Elias [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0009000306743120), Lee, Valentina [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)], Lindstrøm, Carl A. [Univ. of Oslo (Norway)] (ORCID:0000000207690425), Litos, Michael [Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)] (ORCID:0000000324348207), Majernik, Nathan [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)], Marsh, Kenneth A. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)], Mori, Warren B. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)], Rajkovic, Ivan [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)], Hogan, Mark J. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000236745632), Joshi, Chan [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)]. 2025-11-28. Plasma-wakefield accelerator simultaneously boosts electron beam energy and brightness. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65742-8
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