Hybrid LWFA-PWFA

PWFA needs intense electron beams to excite a strong plasma wave. So far, the only linac capable to deliver electron driver beams strong enough to facilitate plasma photocathodes was the radiofrequency-based linear accelerator at Stanford’s SLAC FACET. As an emerging alternative to such big, km-scale linacs, LWFA can provide sufficiently strong electron beam drivers in compact setups. We pioneered this approach from concept to reality, and have started programmatic research on this at our lab at HHU, in context of a European collaboration in this area with a strong track record. Next to being able to facilitate intrinsically synchronized plasma photocathode-based beam energy and brightness transformers, hybrid LWFA→PWFA is invaluable as test-bed for novel PWFA concepts and physics, and to democratize PWFA towards applications.        

Monoenergetic Energy Doubling in a Hybrid Laser-Plasma Wakefield Accelerator, B. Hidding, T. Königstein, J. Osterholz, S. Karsch, O. Willi, and G. Pretzler,  Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 195002 (2010)

Progress in Hybrid Plasma Wakefield Acceleration, B. Hidding et al., Photonics 10(2), 99 (2023) 

Demonstration of a compact plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams, T. Kurz, T. Heinemann et al., Nature Communications 12, 2895 (2021)

Stable and High-Quality Electron Beams from Staged Laser and Plasma Wakefield Accelerators, F. M. Förster et al., Physical Review X,12, 041016 (2022)