Abstract
In the field of beam driven acceleration of particles in plasma wakefields (PWFA), the source of the plasma medium is a crucial part of the accelerator setup. Gas discharges have proven to be a reliable and simple type of a plasma source in past experiments. Nevertheless, especially in plasma cells that aim for peak density in the range of 1015 cm−3, physical apertures around 10 mm, and lengths of up to several meters, the stability of the discharge ignition and the pulse current waveform is limiting the applicability. We show successful mitigation of these jitters in a 0.1 m argon gas discharge cell, operating at maximum densities of ≤1016 cm−3 by optimisation of the cell design and the discharge current pulse circuit.
Highlights
INTRODUCTIONThe acceleration of particles in wakefields driven in a plasma by either laser pulses [laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA)]1 or relativistic charged particle bunches (PWFA) has drawn significant attention throughout the past years due to the prospects of high gradient, small size accelerators for free electron laser or high energy physics applications
The acceleration of particles in wakefields driven in a plasma by either laser pulses [laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA)]1 or relativistic charged particle bunches (PWFA)2 has drawn significant attention throughout the past years due to the prospects of high gradient, small size accelerators for free electron laser3–5 or high energy physics applications.6,7Plasma cells as source of the acceleration medium are being used or considered in most experiments in the field, as a pre-ionised plasma has several advantages over the ionisation by the driver, such as guiding of laser pulses8 or mitigation of driver head erosion.9 If the driver head does not produce sufficiently high field strengths for ionisation, preformation of a plasma is even inevitable, which is often the case in PWFA
We show successful mitigation of these jitters in a 0.1 m argon gas discharge cell, operating at maximum densities of 1016 cmÀ3 by optimisation of the cell design and the discharge current pulse circuit
Summary
The acceleration of particles in wakefields driven in a plasma by either laser pulses [laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA)]1 or relativistic charged particle bunches (PWFA) has drawn significant attention throughout the past years due to the prospects of high gradient, small size accelerators for free electron laser or high energy physics applications.. This is especially the case for proton-driven PWFA in the scope of the Advanced Wakefield Experiment (AWAKE) and experiments without bunch compressor.14 For both experiments, pulsed, linear, low density argon gas discharges have been proposed as possible plasma sources for their simplicity and for their scalability to lengths of up to several meters. It has been found experimentally at the Photoinjector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ) and in prototypes built for the AWAKE at CERN15 that such cells can exhibit discharge initiation time jitters on the μs scale and current waveform jitters of the discharge pulse of more than 10% These jitters are assumed to result from lower yields of secondary electrons at the cathode by ion impact during the build-up of the high current arc discharge plasma compared to higher density gas discharge media. Successful jitter mitigation is confirmed by electronic discharge monitoring and via the stability of wakefield interaction of a relativistic electron beam with the produced plasma
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