High power microwave source for a plasma wakefield experiment

The results of the generation of a high-power microwave (∼550 MW, 0.5 ns, ∼9.6 GHz) beam and feasibility of wakefield-excitation with this beam in under-dense plasma are presented. The microwave beam is generated by a backward wave oscillator (BWO) operating in the superradiance regime. The BWO is driven by a high-current electron beam (∼250 keV, ∼1.5 kA, ∼5 ns) propagating through a slow-wave structure in a guiding magnetic field of 2.5 T. The microwave beam is focused at the desired location by a dielectric lens. Experimentally obtained parameters of the microwave beam at its waist are used for numerical simulations, the results of which demonstrate the formation of a bubble in the plasma that has almost 100% electron density modulation and longitudinal and transverse electric fields of several kV/cm.