The Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications (CLARA) is an electron test facility capable of delivering tunable 250 MeV electron beams with up to 250 pC charge to the Full Energy Beam Exploitation (FEBE) experimental area . In this study, we investigate the feasibility of conducting beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) experiments using the CLARA beam and experimental area. We present simulations of various potential experiments, considering the baseline and R&D beam parameters expected to be delivered to the FEBE experimental chambers*. Our findings highlight the potential for CLARA to support advanced PWFA research, with detailed analysis of beam dynamics and experimental configurations.

Laser Wakefield Accelerators (LWFA) offer a promising solution for producing high-energy electron beams in compact setups. Beyond obtaining the required energy, the beam quality (emittance, energy spread, intensity) must also be optimized for LWFA to be considered an alternative to conventional accelerators. Achieving precise control of the transverse beam dynamics is one of the key challenges. This article thoroughly studies the physics governing the evolution of emittance and Twiss parameters within the plasma stage, on the density plateau, and in the up-ramp and down-ramp connections to conventional transport lines. Analytical and numerical analysis will be conducted using a toy model made of special quadrupoles, allowing numerical calculations to be sped up to a few seconds/minutes. Matching between plasma and transport lines will be extensively studied, clearly showing the dependence on initial conditions, and recommendations for the best realistic configurations will be provided*.

Active energy compression scheme enables generating laser-plasma accelerator electron beams with a small relative slice energy spread, of the order of 10 ppm. When modulated by a laser pulse, such beams can produce coherent radiation at very high, about 100-th harmonics of the modulation laser wavelength, which are hard to access by conventional techniques. The scheme has a potential of providing additional capabilities for future plasma-based facilities by generating stable, tunable, narrow-band radiation.

The large gradients of plasma-wakefield accelerators promise to shorten accelerators and reduce their financial and environmental costs. For such accelerators, a key challenge is the transport of beams with high divergence and energy spread. Achromatic optics is a potential solution that would allow staging of plasma accelerators without beam-quality degradation. For this, a nonlinear plasma lens\* is being developped within the SPARTA\*\* project. As a first application of this lens, we aim to implement an achromatic spectrometer for electron bunches produced by a laser-wakefield accelerator. We report on progress in designing such an experiment.

Laser-plasma accelerators have demonstrated the ability to accelerate high-energy electrons but require improved beam stability and repeatability for practical applications. Pre-formed plasma channels enhance the stability in Laser-Wakefield Accelerators by maintaining laser focus over longer distances, increasing energy transfer efficiency. The characteristics of such channels are highly dependent on capillary geometry, gas parameters, discharge setup, and repetition rate. This study investigates the electron density profiles in plasma from gas-filled capillary discharges. Using interferometry and Stark broadening, we measured profiles under varying conditions, achieving densities of (2-6)×10^18 cm^-3. In this presentation, we showcase the stability and uniformity of the plasma, highlighting its capability to preserve beam quality in high-energy, high-repetition-rate applications. This type of plasma source is a crucial technology for the plasma accelerator-based Free Electron Laser developed at ELI-ERIC as well as for the EuPRAXIA project. Also, we discuss the conceptual design of plasma diagnostics for providing 'real-time' information in high-repetition-rate applications.

Abstract The possibility of charged particle acceleration by a longitudinal wake field excited in plasma by an electron bunch and a train of electron bunches is investigated. The exact solution of the stationary nonlinear self-consistent interaction of a monoenergetic relativistic bunch with cold plasma is obtained. It is shown that under certain conditions a self-acceleration of the bunch tail electrons up to high energies is possible.

Betatron radiation is the spontaneous emission of radiation produced by the betatron oscillations of electrons in a plasma during the Laser Wakefield Acceleration (LWFA) process. A high-intensity and ultra-short laser pulse is focused on a supersonic gas jet, simultaneously creating a plasma, injecting, and accelerating electrons, which then emit this radiation. In the framework of the EuPRAXIA project, EuAPS (EuPRAXIA Advanced Photon Source) will be the first user-oriented radiation source based on betatron radiation developed at LNF-INFN Frascati in collaboration with CNR and the University of Rome Tor Vergata. This radiation source has a wide range of applications, including materials science, medical and biological research. The user facility aims to deliver 1-10 keV photons using a compact laser-driven plasma accelerator operating in a self-injection mechanism, which occurs in highly nonlinear laser-plasma interaction. In this contribution, we present the expected parameters of the source and the result of several dedicated experimental campaigns conducted within the EuAPS project to provide the preliminary characterization of the x-rays betatron radiation source.

We present basic analytical studies on the effects of the local transverse plasma density fluctuations. We show that in two acceleration schemes (blow-out regime and hollow plasma channel) transverse plasma density gradient results in a transverse wakefield. This, in turn, may lead to significant limitations in the machine's performance. We consider the classical round driver in the transverse coordinates and show, that in the blow-out regime transverse plasma inhomogeneity results in the dipole wake that may deflect the driver and result in housing instability. We show that in the case of a hollow plasma channel, transverse plasma gradient shifts the electromagnetic center of the plasma channel. As a remedy, we propose to consider flat driver injection and show, that a flat driver in the blow-out regime can be robust to the perturbation in transverse plasma density.

Plasma-based acceleration technology can revolutionize particle accelerators, enabling the realization of compact systems capable of driving different user-oriented applications. We propose developing a laser-based, high repetition rate (HRR), highly stable and tunable plasma filament stage for beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) systems. The plasma filament, generated by a low-energy self-guided femtosecond laser pulse, is studied experimentally and theoretically in a low-pressure N2 gas environment. Precise control of the plasma filament is crucial for plasma-based accelerators, and different techniques have been implemented to measure its density, temperature and dimensions. The measurements show the stable generation of a ≈4cm long channel with a ≈300μm diameter. The plasma density and temperature are ne≈1016cm−3 and Te≈1.3eV with a decay time of ≈8ns. Compared to other plasma stages in PWFA configurations, the proposed one allows for inherently synchronized stages at HRR. The hundreds-µm transverse structure size extends the stage lifetime, and the highly tunable parameters allow us to explore different scenarios. This technology can provide GeV-level electrons at HRR in a compact space, maintaining the high quality and brilliance of the LINAC-generated beams. This development aligns perfectly within the goals of the EuPRAXIA European project.

Laser plasma accelerators (LPAs) can produce high-energy electron bunches from short distances. Successfully coupling these sources with dedicated compact storage rings tuned to quasi-isochronous conditions would demonstrate the capture and storage of ultra-short electron bunches in a circular accelerator. Electron bunches generated from LPAs can have a correlated distribution in longitudinal phase space: a chirp, as well as comparably large angular divergence and energy spread. We, therefore, design a flexible beamline that can transport ultrashort bunches with large angular and energy spread to a ring. We have used the accelerator design programs OPA and MAD8 to build up optical model of a beamline. The line is composed of focusing and dispersion matching sections. A set of small angle bending magnets counteracts the dispersion created by injection septum of the storage ring and provides quasi-isochronous bunch transfer with a flexible value of longitudinal dispersion (R56).

Plasma wakefield acceleration in the filament regime can provide wakefields suitable for high-gradient, high-quality positron acceleration while maintaining stability. However, the energy that can be extracted by the positrons is limited. Recent works have proposed accelerating a supplementary electron recovery bunch along with the positron bunch to extract more energy from the wake and improve the overall transfer efficiency during acceleration. However, it is unclear if such energy recovery schemes are stable when subject to misalignment. In this work, we employ quasi-static particle-in-cell simulations to study the transverse stability of configurations involving three bunches.

The AWAKE experiment at CERN makes use of a self-modulated proton bunch to excite wakefields and accelerate a witness electron bunch. Run 2c of the experiment will demonstrate stabilization of the wakefield amplitude and control of the witness bunch emittance during injection and acceleration. In this work, we present an overview of the ongoing simulation efforts to support the project as it moves towards controlled acceleration and first particle-physics applications.

Future colliders with discovery potential for particle physics rely on increasing the parton centre of mass (pCM) energy, with the recent P5 report calling for a 10 TeV pCM collider. However, the development of such schemes using conventional accelerator technology would result in ever-larger facilities. High-gradient plasma wakefields driven by proton beams allow the transfer of energy to a witness bunch over a short length scale, and so offer a potential method to transform high-energy proton beams into high-energy lepton beams while requiring relatively little additional civil engineering. The application of this concept to a Higgs factory driven by 400 GeV protons was recently proposed*. In the present work, we discuss the ongoing efforts to address the challenges to realising such a scheme**, and possible upgrade paths to particle physics applications beyond a Higgs factory.

Structured plasma channels are an essential technology for driving high-gradient, plasma-based acceleration and control of electron and positron beams for advanced concepts accelerators. Laser and gas technologies can permit the generation of long plasma columns known as hydrodynamic, optically-field-ionized (HOFI) channels, which feature low on-axis densities and steep walls. By carefully selecting the background gas and laser properties, one can generate narrow, tunable plasma channels for guiding high intensity laser pulses. We present on the development of 1D and 2D simulations of HOFI channels using the FLASH code, a publicly available radiation hydrodynamics code. We explore sensitivities of the channel evolution to laser profile, intensity, and background gas conditions. We examine experimental measurements of plasma channels and their comparison to model predictions. Lastly, we discuss ongoing work to couple these tools to community PIC models to capture variations in initial conditions and channel influence on wakefield accelerator applications.

The EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network (EuPRAXIA-DN) trains the next generation of scientists in plasma-based accelerator technologies, addressing challenges in laser-plasma interactions, advanced beam diagnostics, and novel applications. This contribution highlights progress made in three critical areas: ) real‑time characterization of capillary discharge plasmas to stabilize laser‑wakefield accelera-tion, (ii) femtosecond‑precision X‑band low‑level RF (LLRF) control for the compact EuPRAX-IA@SPARC_LAB injector, and (iii) active‑plasma‑lens (APL)–based beam transport enabling extreme‑ultraviolet free‑electron‑laser (EUV‑FEL) operation within four me-ters of undulator. The innovative training elements with-in the network, such as the EuPRAXIA School on Plasma Accelerators held in Rome in April 2024 and upcoming EuPRAXIA Camps, are also discussed. It is shown how these foster knowledge exchange and skill development for the network's Fellows and the wider plasma accelera-tor community.

The Advanced Wakefield Experiment (AWAKE) at CERN uses bunches from the CERN SPS to develop proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration. AWAKE Run 2c (starting in 2029) plans for external on-axis injection of a 150 MeV electron witness bunch. The goal is to demonstrate emittance control of multi-GeV accelerated electron beams. Prior to injection, the electron witness bunch may have to traverse rubidium vapour. Since the beam must have the correct beam size and emittance at injection, it is important to quantify the effect of scattering. For this, first-principle estimates and the results from Geant4 simulations are compared with measurements of a ~20 MeV electron beam scattering in 5.5 m of rubidium vapour, showing good agreement. Building on this agreement, Geant4 simulations using the estimated AWAKE Run 2c parameters are performed. These predict that scattering will not increase the electron beam size or emittance

We report on recent progress in transverse instabilities and transverse tolerances for plasma-wakefield accelerators in the blow-out regime. In this regime, the transverse fields provide both strong focusing and strong deflection via transverse wakefields. The deflection effect of the wakefields on the main beam leads to limitations on the acceleration efficiency, if not mitigated. Based on comprehensive particle-in-cell simulations we summarize recent findings of the instability--efficiency relation for the blow-out regime. Ion motion and energy spread may mitigate the instability; with linac start-to-end simulations, using the recently developed ABEL framework, we demonstrate that the instability and emittance growth may be sufficiently mitigated for the colliding beams in the HALHF concept. Independent of wakefield effects, the strong focusing fields lead to very tight tolerances for the drive-beam jitter. We quantify these tolerances, using examples from HALHF start-to-end simulations. We show that the tolerances are greatly loosened by applying external magnetic fields to guide the drive-beam propagation in the plasma.

We introduce ABEL, the Adaptable Beginning-to-End Linac simulation framework developed for agile design studies of plasma-based accelerators and colliders. ABEL’s modular architecture allows users to simulate particle acceleration across various beamline components*. The framework supports specialised codes such as HiPACE++, Wake-T, ELEGANT, GUINEA-PIG and CLICopti, which facilitate precise modelling of complex machine components. Key features include simplified models for addressing transverse instabilities, radiation reactions, and ion motion, alongside comprehensive diagnostics and optimisation capabilities. Our simulation studies focus on the HALHF plasma linac, examining tolerances for drive beam jitter, including effects of self-correction mechanisms. Simulation results demonstrate ABEL's ability to model emittance growth under transverse instability and ion motion, highlighting the framework’s adaptability in balancing simulation fidelity with computational efficiency. The findings point towards ABEL’s potential for advancing compact accelerator designs and contribute to the broader goals of enhancing control and precision in plasma-based acceleration.

In plasma-based acceleration, an ultra-relativistic particle bunch—or an intense laser beam—is used to expel electrons from its propagation path, forming a wake that is devoid of electrons. The ions, being significantly more massive, are often assumed to be stationary. However, both theory and simulations suggest that any sufficiently dense electron bunch can trigger ion motion, and its effect must be taken into account. We simulate beam-driven plasma wakefields to identify key features—such as longitudinally dependent emittance growth—that could be observed in an experiment using plasma and beam parameters from the FLASHForward facility at DESY.

Acceleration by the wakefield in the plasma can provide compact sources of relativistic electron bunches of high brightness. Free electron lasers and particle colliders, for using plasma wakefield accelerators, require high efficiency and bunches with low energy spread. The best way to achieve low energy spread is using profiled bunches which form plateau on the wakefield. However, in experimental setups it is easier to use gaussian-kind bunches. Our numerical investigations show that thus form of bunches can assure plateau on the central part of the bunch, higher accelerating field on the tail of the bunch and lower accelerating field on its head. This field distribution leads to decreasing of the energy spread of bunches.

Acceleration by plasma wakefield accelerators enables compact sources of high-brightness relativistic electron bunches. Applications like free electron lasers and particle colliders require high efficiency and low energy spread, achievable in the blowout regime, where the radial wake force is linear and independent of the longitudinal coordinate over much of the wakefield bubble. However, this regime introduces hose instability due to harmonic oscillations of electrons in the bunch. Studies show that anharmonic oscillations, caused by inhomogeneous focusing force along the wakefield bubble, suppress this instability. In the weakly nonlinear regime, where some plasma electrons remain in the bubble, their inhomogeneous density widens the stability region. Radial inhomogeneity in the residual plasma electron distribution further leads to anharmonicity of oscillations, stabilizing the bunch. We evaluated the oscillation period and found that the large radial and longitudinal gradients of the focusing force in the driver and witness bunch regions satisfy stochastic stabilization conditions. This enhances the stability of both bunches.

Acceleration by the wakefield in the plasma can provide compact sources of relativistic electron beams of high brightness. Free electron lasers and particle colliders, using plasma wakefield accelerators, require high quality bunches with predictable profile. Previous studies showed that the resonant sequence of electron bunches appears to be unstable due to the destruction of the bunches. In this paper we discuss the mechanism of this destruction due to the focusing field phase shift which appears during this time evolution. We numerically and analytically showed the possible way of suppressing this instability, shifting all bunches on some distance.

Nanostructures based on carbon nanotube arrays are emerging as promising media for achieving ultra-high acceleration gradients in laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). In this study, we design and optimize plasmas with hexagonal lattice structures, where the lattice parameters directly define the nanostructure's properties. Using WarpX, a state-of-the-art particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation framework, we conduct fully three-dimensional simulations to model the interaction between these advanced plasmas and laser pulses. To refine the lattice parameters, we apply Bayesian optimization through the Python library BoTorch, identifying optimal configurations for generating effective wakefields. These results are intended to guide preliminary simulations for future experiments at leading laser facilities, such as ELI and VEGA3, advancing the exploration of LWFA with nanostructured plasmas.

Beam Delivery Simulation (BDSIM) is a Geant4 based accelerator tracking code which includes interactions of particles with material. BDSIM has become an important code in the accelerator community to simulate beam lines. Since laser and beam driven plasma wakefield acceleration (LWFA/PWFA) is a promising acceleration method we found it important to include related capability in BDSIM. This requires the addition of new beamline elements that are commonly used in plasma acceleration experiments. A gas volume where the LWFA/PWFA takes place and a beam mask to create a separate drive beam and a witness beam. In the former, the beam interacts with gas so ideal gas calculations are required to input the gas properties. Biasing can specifically be applied to the gas material in those elements. Simulating the interactions between the beam and a plasma is not done in BDSIM. An external software is used to compute the fields and the particles data. BDSIM can now read the output HDF5 files to reconstruct the fields inside the gas capillary or use the particle data as a bunch definition for the beginning of a beamline. Some results explaining how to make a LWFA/PWFA simulation are presented.

In the AWAKE Run 2c experiment, two electron beams are injected into two separate rubidium (Rb) vapour sources. The first electron beam initiates the self-modulation of a proton bunch in the first vapour source, while the second electron beam serves as a witness beam for plasma wakefield acceleration with low energy spread in the second vapour source. This setup requires the precise spatio-temporal delivery of four laser beams: two deep UV beams that generate the electron beams with a relative timing jitter well below 100 fs, and two near-IR beams that ionize efficiently the Rb vapour sources. The UV pulses are generated by an established Yb laser system, capable of producing 400 uJ, 0.2-10 ps pulses at 257 nm with high reliability (<0.1% RMS energy fluctuation), and enables emittance optimization via spatial beam shaping. The same system is used for both electron sources, utilizing a partial reflector to split the beam and account for differing photocathode yields. For the Rb ionizing pulses, which are directed into the vapour sources in a counter-propagating geometry, the pulses from the AWAKE Ti:Sapphire laser system are transported using a series of vacuum relay telescopes.

Accurate characterization of plasma density profiles is vital for optimizing plasma-based accelerators, as density directly affects beam acceleration and quality. Plasma capillaries also serve as lenses and for beam guiding, highlighting their role in advanced accelerators. This study measures longitudinal and transverse density profiles of plasma capillaries, achieving 3D characterization using Stark broadening techniques. Two optical lines capture emitted plasma light. Parameters include gas flow rate, operating mode (pulsed/continuous), voltage, capillary type and geometry, gas type, and repetition rate, allowing evaluation of operational impacts on plasma density. Results show consistent density measurements across various positions, indicating the method's capability to capture spatial variations in plasma density. Understanding these profiles is crucial for developing and optimizing laser-driven and beam-driven plasma accelerators, as well as enhancing plasma lenses and beam guiding, enabling fine-tuning of parameters to maximize acceleration efficiency and control beam quality.

Plasma Wakefield Acceleration (PWFA) is a method of accelerating charged particles using a plasma. It has the potential to produce exceptionally large accelerating gradients on the order of 10’s of GeV/m. The FACET-II test facility accelerates pairs of 10 GeV electron bunches to study the PWFA process—a drive bunch to produce a wake in the plasma in a lithium-ion oven, and a witness bunch to be accelerated by PWFA. By using arrangements of sextupole magnets, it is possible to alter the chromaticity and other energy-dependent properties of the beams prior to their entry into the plasma. The purpose of this study was to determine how the transverse offsets of the sextupole magnets could be optimized to increase the amount of energy deposited into the plasma by the drive bunch as this energy deposition is critical to maximising the efficiency of PWFA. To achieve this, a simulation of the FACET-II beamline was performed with sextupole offsets as adjustable parameters in a Bayesian Optimization procedure. The results demonstrate the value of using beam simulations as guides to improve the PWFA process, thereby reducing the need to perform costly experiments at the FACET-II facility.

A wakefield experiment at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator (AWA) facility employs flat electron beams with highly asymmetric transverse emittances to drive plasma wakefields in the underdense regime. These beams generate elliptical blowout structures, leading to asymmetric transverse focusing forces. The experiment features a compact 4-cm-long capillary discharge plasma source developed at UCLA. Analytic models of blowout ellipticity and matching conditions, validated by particle-in-cell simulations, inform the experimental design. Key engineering preparations, including vacuum-gas separation windows, beam transport systems, and diagnostics, are detailed. Initial beam runs focusing on flat beam generation and transport are also presented.

At UCLA, we’ve developed a versatile capillary discharge plasma source for plasma wakefield experiments at the MITHRA and AWA facilities. This compact device, with an adjustable length and a 3-mm aperture, is designed to transmit high-aspect-ratio beams and generate plasmas across a wide density range. Its tunable density allows us to explore the shift from linear to nonlinear plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) in detail. Recently, we compared the performance of thyratron and solid-state switches, using an interferometric diagnostic system to measure the resulting plasma densities and these results are presented.

The MITHRA facility being commissioned at UCLA, will be capable of producing low emittance beams with 100s pC of charge with bunch lengths in the 100s of fs range having an energy of 60 MeV. This can be used to drive plasma wakefields and the long bunch length compared to the plasma skin depth allows us to create a beam with a broadband energy spectrum. The energy spectrum resembles the electron spectrum observed in the radiation belts of Jupiter and can be used as a proxy for electron radiation exposure for flyby operations. In this paper, we discuss the beam transport, plasma source and diagnostics needed for the proposed experiment.

The plasma wakefield excited by highly asymmetric drivers has recently been the subject of extensive study. Unlike the case of axisymmetric drivers, the transverse focusing and longitudinal fields exhibit coordinate dependencies. There are still open questions regarding the longitudinal characterization of this blowout regime. In this work, we analyze the transverse dependence of the longitudinal field and explore the transverse distribution of the energy spread in witness beams for drivers with varying asymmetric emittances. These analytical results are compared with Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations to provide deeper insights into the dynamics of asymmetric wakefield interactions.

Plasma acceleration is a rapidly maturing technology, but is not yet ready for large-scale applications such as linear colliders. The SPARTA project aims to develop a near-term, medium-scale plasma-accelerator facility to enable new experiments in strong-field quantum electrodynamics (SFQED)—an application that requires solving two of the most important remaining challenges in plasma acceleration: reaching high energy by using multiple accelerating stages; and achieving high beam stability. We report on progress toward the three main objectives: demonstrating a nonlinear plasma lens for achromatic beam transport between stages; developing self-stabilization and instability suppression mechanisms; and developing a conceptual design for a multistage SFQED facility.

The Advanced Wakefield (AWAKE) experiment is a proof-of-principle accelerator facility at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland). Proton bunches from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron are used to drive wakefields in 10 metres of laser-ionised rubidium plasma, over which externally injected 19 MeV electrons are accelerated. Run 1 of AWAKE successfully demonstrated the self-modulation of the long proton bunch, and the acceleration of electrons to 2 GeV. Upgrades to the rubidium vapour source during Run 2 have enabled the use of a plasma density step, and variation of the plasma length through the insertion of foils along the source to dump the laser pulse. When placed suitably within the development of self-modulation, the density step is expected to preserve the wakefield amplitude, and therefore accelerating gradient, over longer distances than with uniform plasma. This work presents the first measurements of electron acceleration with a density step, studied as a function of the plasma length.