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Title: Beam Head Erosion in Self-Ionized Plasma Wakefield Accelerators

Abstract

In the recent plasma wakefield accelerator experiments at SLAC, the energy of the particles in the tail of the 42 GeV electron beam were doubled in less than one meter [1]. Simulations suggest that the acceleration length was limited by a new phenomenon--beam head erosion in self-ionized plasmas. In vacuum, a particle beam expands transversely in a distance given by {beta}*. In the blowout regime of a plasma wakefield [2], the majority of the beam is focused by the ion channel, while the beam head slowly spreads since it takes a finite time for the ion channel to form. It is observed that in self-ionized plasmas, the head spreading is exacerbated compared to that in pre-ionized plasmas, causing the ionization front to move backward (erode). A simple theoretical model is used to estimate the upper limit of the erosion rate for a bi-gaussian beam by assuming free expansion of the beam head before the ionization front. Comparison with simulations suggests that half this maximum value can serve as an estimate for the erosion rate. Critical parameters to the erosion rate are discussed.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
922957
Report Number(s):
SLAC-PUB-13100
TRN: US0801876
DOE Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
Conf.Proc.C070625:3064,2007
Additional Journal Information:
Conference: Particle Accelerator Conference PAC07 25-29 Jun 2007, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS; ACCELERATION; ACCELERATORS; BLOWOUTS; ELECTRON BEAMS; IONIZATION; METERS; PARTICLE BEAMS; PLASMA; STANFORD LINEAR ACCELERATOR CENTER; WAKEFIELD ACCELERATORS; Accelerators,ACCSYS

Citation Formats

Berry, M K, Blumenfeld, I, Decker, F J, Hogan, M J, Ischebeck, R, Iverson, R H, Kirby, N A, Siemann, Robert H, Walz, D R, /SLAC, Clayton, C E, Huang, C, Joshi, C, Lu, W, Marsh, K A, Mori, W B, Zhou, M, /UCLA, Katsouleas, T C, Muggli, P, Oz, E, and /Southern California U. Beam Head Erosion in Self-Ionized Plasma Wakefield Accelerators. United States: N. p., 2008. Web.
Berry, M K, Blumenfeld, I, Decker, F J, Hogan, M J, Ischebeck, R, Iverson, R H, Kirby, N A, Siemann, Robert H, Walz, D R, /SLAC, Clayton, C E, Huang, C, Joshi, C, Lu, W, Marsh, K A, Mori, W B, Zhou, M, /UCLA, Katsouleas, T C, Muggli, P, Oz, E, & /Southern California U. Beam Head Erosion in Self-Ionized Plasma Wakefield Accelerators. United States.
Berry, M K, Blumenfeld, I, Decker, F J, Hogan, M J, Ischebeck, R, Iverson, R H, Kirby, N A, Siemann, Robert H, Walz, D R, /SLAC, Clayton, C E, Huang, C, Joshi, C, Lu, W, Marsh, K A, Mori, W B, Zhou, M, /UCLA, Katsouleas, T C, Muggli, P, Oz, E, and /Southern California U. 2008. "Beam Head Erosion in Self-Ionized Plasma Wakefield Accelerators". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/922957.
@article{osti_922957,
title = {Beam Head Erosion in Self-Ionized Plasma Wakefield Accelerators},
author = {Berry, M K and Blumenfeld, I and Decker, F J and Hogan, M J and Ischebeck, R and Iverson, R H and Kirby, N A and Siemann, Robert H and Walz, D R and /SLAC and Clayton, C E and Huang, C and Joshi, C and Lu, W and Marsh, K A and Mori, W B and Zhou, M and /UCLA and Katsouleas, T C and Muggli, P and Oz, E and /Southern California U.},
abstractNote = {In the recent plasma wakefield accelerator experiments at SLAC, the energy of the particles in the tail of the 42 GeV electron beam were doubled in less than one meter [1]. Simulations suggest that the acceleration length was limited by a new phenomenon--beam head erosion in self-ionized plasmas. In vacuum, a particle beam expands transversely in a distance given by {beta}*. In the blowout regime of a plasma wakefield [2], the majority of the beam is focused by the ion channel, while the beam head slowly spreads since it takes a finite time for the ion channel to form. It is observed that in self-ionized plasmas, the head spreading is exacerbated compared to that in pre-ionized plasmas, causing the ionization front to move backward (erode). A simple theoretical model is used to estimate the upper limit of the erosion rate for a bi-gaussian beam by assuming free expansion of the beam head before the ionization front. Comparison with simulations suggests that half this maximum value can serve as an estimate for the erosion rate. Critical parameters to the erosion rate are discussed.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/922957}, journal = {Conf.Proc.C070625:3064,2007},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2008},
month = {Mon Jan 28 00:00:00 EST 2008}
}

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