All-metal wakefield accelerator: Two-dimensional periodic surface lattices for charged particle acceleration

Abstract

Interest in ``all-metal'' surface periodic structures to control charged particle beam dynamics and properties, and to generate coherent radiation in the THz frequency range has recently risen exponentially. While such structures have the benefits of metal, they are capable of providing similar properties to a dispersive dielectric. All-metal structures allow good temperature and space charge management. Transportation of high energy charge particle beams in the vicinity of the structure without risking material degradation makes them very attractive for particle acceleration and terahertz radiation generation applications. Here, the results of theoretical studies (via numerical modeling) of the electron beam dynamics and wakefield excitation and evolution along the cylindrical two-dimensional periodic surface structure will be presented, and the properties of the wakefields generated will be discussed. The wakefield acceleration of the witness bunch in the potential reaching $1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GV}/\mathrm{m}$ will be demonstrated. The challenges will be identified and discussed, and the concept of the cascade accelerator based on such all-metal wakefield accelerator (AMWA) structures will be presented.