Characterization of discharge capillaries via benchmarked hydrodynamic plasma simulations

Plasma accelerators utilize strong electric fields in plasma waves to accelerate charged particles, making them a compact alternative to radiofrequency technologies. Discharge capillaries are plasma sources used in plasma accelerator research to provide acceleration targets, or as plasma lenses to capture or focus accelerated beams. They have applications for beam-driven and laser-driven plasma accelerators and can sustain high repetition rates for extended periods of time. Despite these advantages, high-fidelity simulations of discharge capillaries remain challenging due to the range of mechanisms involved and the difficulty to diagnose them in experiments. In this work, we utilize hydrodynamic plasma simulations to examine the discharge process of a plasma cell and discuss implications for future accelerator systems. The simulation model is validated with experimental measurements in a 50-mm-long, 1-mm-wide plasma capillary operating a 12–27 kV discharge at 200–1200 Pa hydrogen pressure. For 20 kV at 870 Pa, the discharge is shown to deposit 178 mJ of energy in the plasma. Potential difficulties with the common density measurement method using <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:msub> <a:mtext>H</a:mtext> <a:mi>α</a:mi> </a:msub> </a:math> emission spectroscopy are discussed. This simulation model enables investigations of repeatability, heat flow management, and fine tailoring of the plasma profile with discharges.