Can small be the next big thing? Plasma Accelerator R&D at DESY

In laser- or particle beam-powered plasma-based accelerators, electrons surf on waves and can reach multi-GeV energy levels in a few 10’s of cm. If one relies on conventional methods, this would require machines that are multiple football fields long. Although many challenges remain, this new technology is at the brink of offering a profoundly different way in which we may build particle accelerators. An overview of the latest progress and the next steps in the R&D needed to advance this technology will be presented. Experiments will be discussed that are conducted at the FLASHForward facility that uses an FEL quality electron beam for powering plasma accelerators. In those experiments, beam quality preserving, high-efficiency acceleration has been achieved with relevance to energy boosters for FELs, as well as future colliders. At the laser-driven LUX and KALDERA facilities, an advanced generation of laser-plasma accelerators (LPA) is being developed that can power compact X-ray sources and FELs, and can be used in medical applications. Last but not least, the know-how gained is being deployed towards our “Moonshot” LPA application: an innovative 6 GeV full-energy injector for the new PETRA IV synchrotron.

Speaker: Prof. Wim Leemans, Director of the Accelerator Division at DESY, Hamburg, Germany

Attend in person or via Zoom