Investigating the Key parameters of a Staged Laser- and Particle Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerator Experiment

8th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC17, Copenhagen, Denmark, 15 May 2017 - 19 May 2017 ; Geneva : JACoW, 1703-1706(2017). doi:10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2017-TUPIK010
Plasma wakefield accelerators can be driven by either a powerful laser pulse (LWFA) or a high-current charged particle beam (PWFA). A plasma accelerator combining both schemes consists of a LWFA providing an electron beam which subsequently drives a PWFA in the highly nonlinear regime. This scenario explicitly makes use of the advantages unique to each method, particularly exploiting the capabilities of PWFA schemes to provide high-brightness beams, while the LWFA stage inherently fulfils the demand for compact high-current electron bunches required as PWFA drivers. Effectively, the sub-sequent PWFA stage operates as beam brightness and energy booster of the initial LWFA output, aiming to match the demanding beam quality requirements of accelerator based light sources. We report on numerical studies towards the implementation of a proof-of-principle experiment at the DRACO laser facility at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR).
Published by JACoW, Geneva