Abstract
We present a laser-ionized, beam-driven, passive thin plasma lens that operates in the nonlinear blowout regime. This thin plasma lens provides axisymmetric focusing for relativistic electron beams at strengths unobtainable by magnetic devices. It is tunable, compact, and it imparts little to no spherical aberrations. The combination of these features make it more attractive than other types of plasma lenses for highly divergent beams. A case study is built on beam matching into a plasma wakefield accelerator at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s FACET-II facility. Detailed simulations show that a thin plasma lens formed by laser ionization of a gas jet reduces the electron beam’s waist beta function to half of the minimum value achievable by the FACET-II final focus magnets alone.
Highlights
Plasma-based accelerators offer accelerating gradients orders of magnitude greater than conventional metallic radio-frequency accelerating structures
We show that the underdense, passive thin plasma lens can readily provide the necessary focusing for beam matching into a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA)
We describe an experimental setup for such a plasma lens and present simulation results that demonstrate its performance capabilities in a realistic experimental context modeled on the upcoming Facility for Advanced Experimental Accelerator Tests II (FACET-II) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Summary
Plasma-based accelerators offer accelerating gradients orders of magnitude greater than conventional metallic radio-frequency accelerating structures. The axial current produces a focusing azimuthal magnetic field that is adjusted through the operating current and plasma density of the device These lenses have the drawback of limited transverse density uniformity leading to spherical aberrations as well as a tendency to transition to the nonlinear regime when used with intense electron beams [25]. The aforementioned experiments share some semblance with the scheme proposed here, with a few key differences: the thin plasma lens proposed in this work is intended to be operated in the highly nonlinear blowout regime, it is preionized by an external laser pulse, and is driven by an electron beam This specific combination of characteristics permits several advantages over other electron beam focusing schemes. We describe an experimental setup for such a plasma lens and present simulation results that demonstrate its performance capabilities in a realistic experimental context modeled on the upcoming Facility for Advanced Experimental Accelerator Tests II (FACET-II) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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