TUVIR03
LOA, Palaiseau, France
Plasma wakefield acceleration is a promising concept for a compact particle accelerator with broad range of future applications, such as high energy physics or secondary light sources. Plasma can sustain accelerating fields > 100 GeV/m, driven by intense laser pulses (LWFA) or particle beams (PWFA). The latter one allows to overcome limitations on the accelerating length caused by the speed difference between laser and accelerated beam in LWFA, but requires a dense beam of relativistic particles to drive the wakefield, which are produced by expensive large scale conventional accelerators. Here we report on experimental progress made in PWFA using particle beam drivers from conventional RF accelerators as well as from LWFA. First, we will present results on the successful acceleration of positron beams in a PWFA, and discuss intrinsic limitations, from experimental measurements, theory and simulations. Second, we will show the first demonstration of a PWFA powered by laser-accelerated electron beams, and will discuss new possibilities opened by these results, from the direct optical imaging of the accelerating structure to the generation of bright beams beyond the state of the art.
