Robert H. Siemann

Energy doubling of 42 GeV electrons in a metre-scale plasma wakefield accelerator

The energy frontier of particle physics is several trillion electron volts, but colliders capable of reaching this regime (such as the Large Hadron Collider and the International Linear Collider) are costly and time-consuming to build; it is therefore important to explore new methods of accelerating particles to high energies. Plasma-based accelerators are particularly attractive because they are capable of producing accelerating fields that are orders of magnitude larger than those used in conventional colliders. In these accelerators, a drive beam (either laser or particle) produces a plasma wave (wakefield) that accelerates charged particles. The ultimate utility of plasma accelerators will depend on sustaining ultrahigh accelerating fields over a substantial length to achieve a significant energy gain. Here we show that an energy gain of more than 42 GeV is achieved in a plasma wakefield accelerator of 85 cm length, driven by a 42 GeV electron beam at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The results are in excellent agreement with the predictions of three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Most of the beam electrons lose energy to the plasma wave, but some electrons in the back of the same beam pulse are accelerated with a field of ∼52 GV m-1. This effectively doubles their energy, producing the energy gain of the 3-km-long SLAC accelerator in less than a metre for a small fraction of the electrons in the injected bunch. This is an important step towards demonstrating the viability of plasma accelerators for high-energy physics applications.

High energy density plasma science with an ultrarelativistic electron beam

An intense, high-energy electron or positron beam can have focused intensities rivaling those of today’s most powerful laser beams. For example, the 5 ps (full-width, half-maximum), 50 GeV beam at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) at 1 kA and focused to a 3 micron rms spot size gives intensities of >1020 W/cm−2 at a repetition rate of >10 Hz. Unlike a ps or fs laser pulse which interacts with the surface of a solid target, the particle beam can readily tunnel through tens of cm of steel. However, the same particle beam can be manipulated quite effectively by a plasma that is a million times less dense than air! This is because of the incredibly strong collective fields induced in the plasma by the Coulomb force of the beam. The collective fields in turn react back onto the beam leading to many clearly observable phenomena. The beam paraticles can be: (1) Deflected leading to focusing, defocusing, or even steering of the beam; (2) undulated causing the emission of spontaneous betatron x-ray rad...

E-157: A 1.4-m-long plasma wake field acceleration experiment using a 30 GeV electron beam from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Linac

In the E-157 experiment now being conducted at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, a 30 GeV electron beam of 2×1010 electrons in a 0.65-mm-long bunch is propagated through a 1.4-m-long lithium plasma of density up to 2×1014 e−/cm3. The initial beam density is greater than the plasma density, and the head of the bunch expels the plasma electrons leaving behind a uniform ion channel with transverse focusing fields of up to several thousand tesla per meter. The initial transverse beam size with σ=50–100 μm is larger than the matched size of 5 μm resulting in up to three beam envelope oscillations within the plasma. Time integrated optical transition radiation is used to study the transverse beam profile immediately before and after the plasma and to characterize the transverse beam dynamics as a function of plasma density. The head of the bunch deposits energy into plasma wakes, resulting in longitudinal accelerating fields which are witnessed by the tail of the same bunch. A time-resolved Cherenkov imag...

High-intensity single bunch instability behavior in the new SLC damping ring vacuum chamber

New low-impedance vacuum chambers were installed in the SLC damping rings for the 1994 run after finding a single bunch instability with the old chamber. Although the threshold is lower with the new vacuum chamber, the instability is less severe, and we are now routinely operating at intensities of 4.5/spl times/10/sup 10/ particles per bunch (ppb) compared to 3/spl times/10/sup 10/ ppb in 1993. The vacuum chamber upgrade is described, and measurements of the bunch length, energy spread, and frequency and time domain signatures of the instability are presented.

USING A FAST-GATED CAMERA FOR MEASUREMENTS OF TRANSVERSE BEAM DISTRIBUTIONS AND DAMPING TIMES*

With a fast‐gated camera, synchrotron light was used for studying the transverse beam distributions and damping times in the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC) damping rings. By digitizing the image in the camera signal, the turn‐by‐turn time evolution of the transverse beam distribution was monitored and analyzed. The projections of the digitized image were fit with Gaussian functions to determine the moments of the distribution. Practical applications include the determination of injection matching parameters and the transverse damping times. In this report we describe a synchrotron light monitor and present experimental data obtained in the SLC damping rings.

Heavy beam loading in storage ring radio frequency systems

Abstract Effects arising from both steady-state and transient beam loading of an rf system in circular accelerators are described. The stability of the rf system and the particle beam is studied using a numerical model of the beam-cavity interaction with multiple feedback loops. Nonlinearities in the power source are also considered. As a special case, a detailed model of the Stanford Linear Collider damping rings is presented. The effects of beam-induced transients and intensity jitter on the rf system are analyzed and are used to determine stability tolerances for incoming current variations. A low current limit is demonstrated and techniques are described to ease this limit. Implications for the design and operation of future storage ring rf systems are studied in the heavily beam-loaded limit.

Experimental study of pulsed heating of electromagnetic cavities

An experiment to study the effects of pulsed heating in electromagnetic cavities will be performed. Pulsed heating is believed to be the limiting mechanism of high acceleration gradients at short wavelengths. A cylindrical cavity operated in the TE/sub 011/ mode at a frequency of 11.424 GHz will be used. A klystron will be used to supply a peak input power of 20 MW with a pulse length of 1.5 /spl mu/s. The temperature response of the cavity will be measured by a second waveguide designed to excite a TE/sub 012/ mode in the cavity with a low-power CW signal at a frequency of 17.8 GHz. The relevant theory of pulsed heating will be discussed and the results from cold-testing the structure will be presented.

Beam Matching to a Plasma Wake Field Accelerator using a Ramped Density Profile at the Plasma Boundary

An important aspect of plasma wake field accelerators (PWFA) is stable propagation of the drive beam. In the under dense plasma regime, the drive beam creates an ion channel which acts on the beam as a strong thick focusing lens. The ion channel causes the beam to undergo multiple betatron oscillations along the length of the plasma. There are several advantages if the beam size can be matched to a constant radius. First, simulations have shown that instabilities such as hosing are reduced when the beam is matched [1]. Second, synchrotron radiation losses are minimized when the beam is matched. Third, an initially matched beam will propagate with no significant change in beam size in spite of large energy loss or gain. Coupling to the plasma with a matched radius can be difficult in some cases. This paper shows how an appropriate density ramp at the plasma entrance can be useful for achieving a matched beam. Additionally, the density ramp is helpful in bringing a misaligned trailing beam onto the drive beam axis. A plasma source with boundary profiles useful for matching has been created for the E-164X PWFA experiments at SLAC.

Beam-based monitoring of the SLC linac optics with a diagnostic pulse

The beam optics in a linear accelerator may be changed significantly by variations in the energy and energy spread profile along the linac. In particular, diurnal temperature swings in the SLC klystron gallery perturb the phase and amplitude of the accelerating RF fields. If such changes are not correctly characterized, the resulting errors will cause phase advance differences in the beam optics. In addition RF phase errors also affect the amplitude growth of betatron oscillations. We present an automated, simple procedure to monitor the beam optics in the SLC linac routinely and non-invasively. The measured phase advance and oscillation amplitude is shown as a function of time and is compared to the nominal optics.

Photonic crystal laser accelerator structures

Photonic crystals have great potential for use as laser-driven accelerator structures. A photonic crystal is a dielectric structure arranged in a periodic geometry. Like a crystalline solid with its electronic band structure, the modes of a photonic crystal lie in a set of allowed photonic bands. Similarly, it is possible for a photonic crystal to exhibit one or more photonic band gaps, with frequencies in the gap unable to propagate in the crystal. Thus photonic crystals can confine an optical mode in an all-dielectric structure, eliminating the need for metals and their characteristic losses at optical frequencies. We discuss several geometries of photonic crystal accelerator structures. Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are optical fibers which can confine a speed-of-light optical mode in vacuum. Planar structures, both two- and three-dimensional, can also confine such a mode, and have the additional advantage that they can be manufactured using common microfabrication techniques such as those used for integrated circuits. This allows for a variety of possible materials, so that dielectrics with desirable optical and radiation-hardness properties can be chosen. We discuss examples of simulated photonic crystal structures to demonstrate the scaling laws and trade-offs involved, and touch on potential fabrication processes.