Speaker
Description
There is a growing demand for generating and transporting ultrashort, high-charge-density relativistic electron bunches for applications ranging from free-electron lasers to future high-energy colliders. Laser-plasma wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) offer a promising route towards compact high-gradient acceleration; however, electron bunches generated through plasma self-injection often suffer from limited stability and poor shot-to-shot reproducibility. External injection provides a pathway to high-quality beam generation, but its implementation requires femtosecond-scale electron bunches with precise synchronization to the drive laser. Achieving this level of control remains challenging due to compression-induced timing jitter and stability limitations in conventional radio-frequency (RF) accelerator systems.
We investigate a laser-driven terahertz (THz) bunch manipulation scheme that enables intrinsically synchronized, phase-locked compression of relativistic electron beams. Using analytical modelling and start-to-end simulations, we explore the injection of THz-controlled electron bunches into a LWFA. By exploiting the common laser source used for both THz generation and plasma wakefield excitation, the proposed approach suppresses arrival-time jitter while maintaining efficient bunch compression. Simulations based on realistic accelerator parameters demonstrate sub-10 fs synchronization and a substantial improvement in beam stability, leading to significantly enhanced energy stability after plasma acceleration. These results highlight THz-driven temporal locking as a promising route towards stable, high-quality external injection for next-generation plasma accelerators.
| Presenting Author | Aras Amini |
|---|---|
| Is the Presenting Author a PhD Student or Early Career Scientist ? | Yes |
| Area of research | Advanced accelerator concepts |