Presenting a New Type of Particle Accelerator

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Hybrid Plasma Accelerator Numerical Rendering

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Numerical making of the laser-driven velocity (left side) and a subsequent electron-driven velocity (ideal side), forming together the hybrid plasma accelerator. Credit: Alberto Martinez de la Ossa, Thomas Heinemann

Electrons Riding a Double Wave

Since they are even more compact than today’s accelerators, which can be kilometers long, plasma accelerators are thought about as an appealing innovation for the future. An worldwide research study group has actually now made substantial development in the more advancement of this method: With 2 complementary experiments at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU), the group had the ability to integrate 2 various plasma innovations for the very first time and construct an unique hybrid accelerator. The principle might advance accelerator advancement and, in the long term, end up being the basis of extremely fantastic X-ray sources for research study and medication, as the specialists explain in the journal Nature Communications.

In traditional particle accelerators, strong radio waves are directed into specifically formed metal tubes called resonators. The particles to be sped up — which are frequently electrons — can ride these radio waves like internet users ride an ocean wave. But the capacity of the innovation is restricted: Feeding excessive radio wave power into the resonators develops a threat of electrical charges that can harm the part. This implies that in order to bring particles to high energy levels, numerous resonators need to be linked in series, that makes today’s accelerators oftentimes kilometers long.

200 MeV Accelerator

200 MeV accelerator. Credit: Arie Irman

That is why specialists are excitedly dealing with an option: plasma velocity. In concept, brief and incredibly effective laser flashes fire into a plasma — an ionized state of matter including adversely charged electrons and favorably charged atomic cores. In this plasma, the laser pulse creates a strong rotating electrical field, comparable to the wake of a ship, which can speed up electrons tremendously over an extremely brief range. In theory, this implies centers can be constructed even more compact, diminishing an accelerator that is a hundred meters long today down to simply a couple of meters. “This miniaturization is what makes the concept so attractive,” describes Arie Irman, a scientist at the HZDR Institute of Radiation Physics. “And we hope it will allow even small university laboratories to afford a powerful accelerator in the future.”

But there is yet another variation of plasma velocity where the plasma is driven by near-light-speed electron lots rather of effective laser flashes. This technique provides 2 benefits over laser-driven plasma velocity: “In principle, it should be possible to achieve higher particle energies, and the accelerated electron beams should be easier to control,” describes HZDR physicist and main author Thomas Kurz. “The drawback is that at the moment, we rely on large conventional accelerators to produce the electron bunches that are needed to drive the plasma.” FLASH at DESY in Hamburg, for example, where such experiments happen, determines an excellent one hundred meters.

High-energy mix

This is exactly where the brand-new task is available in. “We asked ourselves whether we could build a far more compact accelerator to drive the plasma wave,” states Thomas Heinemann of the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, who is likewise a main author of the research study. “Our idea was to replace this conventional facility with a laser-driven plasma accelerator.” To test the principle, the group created an advanced speculative setup in which strong light flashes from HZDR’s laser center DRACO struck a gas jet of helium and nitrogen, producing a bundled, quick electron beam through a plasma wave. This electron beam goes through a metal foil into the next section, with the foil showing back the laser flashes.

In this next section, the inbound electron beam encounters another gas, this time a mix of hydrogen and helium, in which it can produce a brand-new, 2nd plasma wave, setting other electrons into turbo mode over a period of simply a couple of millimeters — out shoots a high-energy particle beam. “In the process, we pre-ionize the plasma with an additional, weaker laser pulse,” Heinemann describes. “This makes the plasma acceleration with the driver beam far more effective.”

Turbo ignition: Almost to the speed of light within simply one millimeter

The outcome: “Our hybrid accelerator measures less than a centimeter,” Kurz describes. “The beam-driven accelerator section uses just one millimeter of it to bring the electrons to nearly the speed of light.” Realistic simulations of the procedure reveal an impressive gradient of the speeding up voltage at the same time, representing a boost of more than a thousand times when compared to a standard accelerator. To highlight the significance of their findings, the scientists executed this principle in a comparable kind at the ATLAS laser at LMU in Munich. However, the specialists still have numerous obstacles to conquer prior to this brand-new innovation can be utilized for applications.

In any case, the specialists currently have possible fields of application in mind: “Research groups that currently don’t have a suitable particle accelerator might be able to use and further develop this technology,” Arie Irman hopes. “And secondly, our hybrid accelerator could be the basis for what is called a free-electron laser.” Such FELs are thought about incredibly top quality radiation sources, specifically X-rays, for ultra-precise analyses of nanomaterials, biomolecules, or geological samples. Until now, these X-ray lasers needed long and costly traditional accelerators. The brand-new plasma innovation might make them far more compact and economical — and maybe likewise economical for a routine university lab.

Reference: “Demonstration of a compact plasma accelerator powered by laser-accelerated electron beams” by T. Kurz, T. Heinemann, M. F. Gilljohann, Y. Y. Chang, J. P. Couperus Cabadağ, A. Debus, O. Kononenko, R. Pausch, S. Schöbel, R. W. Assmann, M. Bussmann, H. Ding, J. Götzfried, A. Köhler, G. Raj, S. Schindler, K. Steiniger, O. Zarini, S. Corde, A. Döpp, B. Hidding, S. Karsch, U. Schramm, A. Martinez de la Ossa and A. Irman, 17 May 2021, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23000-7