Compact Multistage Plasma-Based Accelerator Design for Correlated Energy Spread Compensation

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Accelerator Science
• Plasma Physics

Background:

• Plasma-based accelerators utilize extreme electromagnetic fields for compact and cost-effective particle acceleration.
• A significant challenge is the inherent correlated energy spread in produced beams, limiting their practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and simulate a novel method for mitigating correlated energy spread in plasma-accelerated beams.
• To enable high-quality beams suitable for advanced applications like compact free-electron lasers.

Main Methods:

• A two-stage acceleration process was designed, incorporating a magnetic chicane between plasma stages.
• The magnetic chicane is engineered to invert the energy correlation from the first stage.
• Simulations were performed for a 1.5-m-long setup to validate the proposed method.

Main Results:

• Achieved 5.5 GeV particle beams with significantly reduced energy spreads.
• Demonstrated a total relative energy spread of 1.2×10⁻³ and a slice energy spread of 2.8×10⁻⁴.
• Preserved submicron emittance, maintaining beam quality.

Conclusions:

• The proposed two-stage acceleration with a magnetic chicane effectively compensates for energy spread in plasma-based accelerators.
• The achieved beam quality is an order of magnitude better than the current state-of-the-art.
• This technique paves the way for practical applications requiring high-quality particle beams, such as compact free-electron lasers.