Optical Visualization of Beam-Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerators

光束驱动等离子体韦克场加速器的光学可视化

• 批准号: 2308921
• 负责人: Michael Downer
• 金额: $ 58.74万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Austin
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2026-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308921&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Optical; Visualization; Beam; Driven; Plasma

Present particle accelerator technology is at a crossroads -- new discovery science and application opportunities lie ahead, yet the particle accelerators needed to realize them have become too large and expensive. This project explores the physics underlying a new approach to particle acceleration by using plasmas to accelerate particles thousands of times faster than can be done using conventional accelerators. The goal is to make plasma-based accelerators thousands of times smaller and less expensive than their conventional counterparts. This project addresses two current challenges in plasma-based particle acceleration research: (1) generating energetic particle bunches frequently, hundreds of times per second; and (2) accelerating anti-matter particles such as positrons. The project will train early career scientists including two Ph.D. students and an undergraduate student, and will help pave the way for creating new accelerator technology for industry and medicine.This award supports execution of the experiment E-324 “Optical visualization of beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerators” at the 2nd generation SLAC Facility for Advanced Accelerator Science and Experimental Tests (FACET-II). Specific scientific goals of the experiment are: (1) to observe and understand the recovery time of a plasma following plasma wakefield excitation, which limits collider repetition rate and luminosity; (2) to observe a sharp on-axis ion-density peak predicted by computer simulations to form as a result of a strongly nonlinear electron wake after it breaks; and (3) to observe the original beam-driven electron wake at delays less than 1 picosecond for the first time. These studies will pave the way for plasma-based positron accelerators, an essential component of future electron-positron colliders. They will also enable development of reliable tabletop plasma-based accelerators which provide compact coherent x-ray sources for biological, chemical, and materials research, injectors for conventional accelerators, and medical accelerators.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

目前的粒子加速器技术正处在一个十字路口--新的发现科学和应用机会摆在面前，然而实现这些发现和应用所需的粒子加速器却变得过于庞大和昂贵。 该项目探索了一种新的粒子加速方法的物理基础，即使用等离子体将粒子加速到比使用传统加速器快数千倍的速度。 其目标是使基于等离子体的加速器比传统的加速器小数千倍，成本更低。该项目解决了基于等离子体的粒子加速研究中的两个当前挑战：（1）频繁产生高能粒子束，每秒数百次;（2）加速反物质粒子，如正电子。该项目将培养包括两名博士在内的早期职业科学家。该奖项将支持在第二代SLAC先进加速器科学和实验测试设施（FACET-II）执行E-324“束流驱动等离子体韦克菲尔德加速器的光学可视化”实验。该实验的具体科学目标是：（1）观察和了解等离子体在等离子体韦克菲尔德激发后的恢复时间，这限制了对撞机的重复率和亮度;（2）观察尖锐的轴上离子密度峰值，计算机模拟预测该峰值是由于电子尾流破裂后的强非线性电子尾流而形成的;以及（3）首次在小于1皮秒的延迟下观察原始束驱动电子尾流。这些研究将为基于等离子体的正电子加速器铺平道路，这是未来电子-正电子对撞机的重要组成部分。他们还将促进可靠的桌面等离子体加速器的开发，为生物、化学和材料研究提供紧凑的相干X射线源，为传统加速器和医疗加速器提供注入器。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。