Proton beam self-modulation seeded by electron bunch in plasma with density ramp

Seeded self-modulation in a plasma can transform a long proton beam into a train of micro-bunches that can excite a strong wakefield over long distances, but this needs the plasma to have a certain density profile with a short-scale ramp up. For the parameters of the AWAKE experiment at CERN we nume...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plasma physics and controlled fusion 2020-11, Vol.62 (11), p.115025
Main Authors: Lotov, K V, Minakov, V A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
plasma wakefield acceleration
proton beam
seeded self-modulation
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Summary:Seeded self-modulation in a plasma can transform a long proton beam into a train of micro-bunches that can excite a strong wakefield over long distances, but this needs the plasma to have a certain density profile with a short-scale ramp up. For the parameters of the AWAKE experiment at CERN we numerically study which density profiles are optimal if the self-modulation is seeded by a short electron bunch. With the optimal profiles, it is possible to 'freeze' the wakefield at approximately half the wavebreaking level. High-energy electron bunches (160 MeV) are less efficient seeds than low-energy ones (18 MeV), because the wakefield of the former lasts longer than necessary for efficient seeding.
ISSN:0741-3335
1361-6587
DOI:10.1088/1361-6587/abba42