Demonstration of a compact plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams

Plasma wakefield accelerators can produce gigavolt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, far exceeding conventional accelerators. This study demonstrates a millimeter-scale plasma accelerator driven by laser-accelerated electron beams, achieving 128 MeV electron acceleration with gradients exceeding 100 GV m⁻¹. A controlled drive-witness electron bunch pair was used, showing energy transfer from driver to witness via plasma wakefields. This compact accelerator provides a platform for PWFA research and offers potential for compact, high-brightness electron beam sources for applications like free-electron lasers.

T. Kurz, T. Heinemann, M. F. Gilljohann, Y. Y. Chang, J. P. Couperus Cabadağ, A. Debus, O. Kononenko, R. Pausch, S. Schöbel, R. W. Assmann, M. Bussmann, H. Ding, J. Götzfried, A. Köhler, G. Raj, S. Schindler, K. Steiniger, O. Zarini, S. Corde, A. Döpp, B. Hidding, S. Karsch, U. Schramm, A. Martinez de la Ossa, A. Irman