Kilohertz-rate plasma photocathode wakefield acceleration

千赫兹速率等离子体光电阴极尾场加速

• 批准号: 2437821
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Strathclyde
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2437821
• 关键词: Kilohertz; rate; plasma; photocathode; wakefield

Plasma wakefield accelerators (PWFA) catapult electrons to tens of Giga-electron-volt energies on metre-scale distance - which would otherwise require multi-km-scale conventional accelerators. In addition, plasma photocathodes have been invented in order to exploit the enormous electric fields in plasmas also to produce electron beams which are 100,000x brighter that state-of-the-art. These can be realized at linac-powered plasma wakefield accelerators as well as at hybrid laser-plasma-accelerators. Plasma photocathodes and preionization stages can be developed and operated by state-of-the-art pulsed laser systems with kilohertz repetition rates, as they do not require the power levels that can be produced only by large, highest power laser systems which operate at sub-10 Hz repetition rates. A combined longer-term goal of these R&D thrusts - each transformative in its own right - is the production of plasma-based electron beams which are 100,000x brighter, 1000x stronger at repetition rates 100x higher than state-of-the-art. The studentship will explore fundamental laser-plasma-physics underlying the operation of plasma accelerators and plasma photocathodes at kilohertz repetition rates. The plasma photocathode afterglow signature will be investigated to explore the recombination and expansion dynamics, and will be exploited for metrology of the interaction process. SCAPA's in-house capabilities will be exploited to address these questions, complemented by experiments at above mentioned linac-powered facilities as well as at leading laser-plasma accelerator laboratories in Europe. Challenges and features of operating plasma accelerators by kilohertz systems at the power threshold e.g. for self-focusing and self-compression, such as high density plasma sources and strong spectral broadening and repeated laser pulse collapse, will be in the focus of the studentship. The above mentioned effects are expected to allow production of relativistic, broadband electron beams with energies up to a few MeV from the interaction of kilohertz-scale laser pulses with plasmas. Such an electron beam output flux is ideally suited for applications such as for space radiation reproduction and radiation hardness assurance of electronic components, e.g. satellite electronics, or for skin cancer treatment. Both applications are driven forward in collaboration with industry. We will demonstrate these technologies and applications at SCAPA, aiming to offer them to a wide range of industrial and medical users. The studentship will be co-funded by Research Center Julich in Germany. In Julich, a unique high-power, kilohertz laser system is available for laser wakefield acceleration and applications. This system, jointly with Strathclyde's kilohertz-laser pulse capabilities, provides a cutting-edge R&D environment for the studentship.

等离子体韦克菲尔德加速器（PWFA）在米级距离上将电子弹射到数十千兆电子伏的能量-否则需要几公里级的传统加速器。此外，为了利用等离子体中的巨大电场，还发明了等离子体光电阴极，以产生比现有技术亮100，000倍的电子束。这些可以在直线加速器供电的等离子体韦克菲尔德加速器以及混合激光等离子体加速器中实现。等离子体光电阴极和预电离级可以由具有千赫兹重复率的最先进的脉冲激光系统开发和操作，因为它们不需要仅由以低于10 Hz重复率操作的大型最高功率激光系统产生的功率水平。这些研发推力的一个综合长期目标-每一个都有其自身的变革性-是生产基于等离子体的电子束，其亮度为100，000倍，重复率为100倍，比最先进的高出100倍。该学生奖学金将探索等离子体加速器和等离子体光电阴极在千赫兹重复率下运行的基本激光等离子体物理学。等离子体光电阴极余辉签名将进行调查，探索重组和膨胀动力学，并将利用相互作用过程的计量。SCAPA的内部能力将被利用来解决这些问题，并在上述直线加速器动力设施以及欧洲领先的激光等离子体加速器实验室进行实验。在功率阈值下通过千赫兹系统操作等离子体加速器的挑战和特征，例如自聚焦和自压缩，例如高密度等离子体源和强光谱展宽和重复激光脉冲崩溃，将成为学生的重点。预期上述效应允许从千赫兹尺度激光脉冲与等离子体的相互作用产生能量高达几MeV的相对论性宽带电子束。这种电子束输出通量理想地适合于诸如用于空间辐射再现和电子部件（例如卫星电子器件）的辐射硬度保证或用于皮肤癌治疗的应用。这两个应用程序都是与行业合作推动的。我们将在SCAPA上展示这些技术和应用，旨在将其提供给广泛的工业和医疗用户。该奖学金将由德国的Julich研究中心共同资助。在Julich，一个独特的高功率，千赫兹激光系统可用于激光韦克菲尔德加速和应用。该系统与Strathclyde的千赫兹激光脉冲能力相结合，为学生提供了一个尖端的研发环境。