Review of high-energy plasma wakefield experiments

Plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) experiments have made considerable progress in the past decade by using high-energy particle beams to drive large amplitude waves or wakes in a plasma. Electron beam driven experiments have measured the integrated and dynamic aspects of plasma focusing, the bright flux of high-energy betatron radiation photons, particle beam refraction at the plasma/neutral gas interface, and the structure and amplitude of the accelerating wakefield. Gradients spanning kT/m to MT/m for focusing and 100 MeV/m to 50 GeV/m for acceleration have been excited in plasmas with densities of 10 14 to 10 17 cm − 3 , respectively. The large accelerating gradient led to the energy doubling of 42 GeV electrons in only 85 cm of plasma. Positron beam driven experiments have evidenced the comparatively more complex dynamic and integrated plasma focusing, the subsequent halo formation and emittance growth in the positron beam and demonstrated accelerating gradients of nearly 100 MeV/m. This article summarizes this experimental progress, illustrates the key enabling technologies that made the work possible, concludes with a brief discussion of proposed future directions, and suggests that the PWFA could one day revolutionize e − / e + linear colliders.