Positron Injection and Acceleration on the Wake Driven by an Electron Beam in a Foil-and-Gas Plasma

A novel approach for generating and accelerating positron bunches in a plasma wake is proposed and modeled. The system consists of a plasma with an embedded thin foil into which two electron beams are shot. The first beam creates a region for accelerating and focusing positrons and the second beam provides positrons to be accelerated. Monte Carlo and 3D PIC simulations show a large number of positrons (10⁷~10⁸) are trapped and accelerated to ~5 GeV over 1 m with relatively narrow energy spread and low emittance.

©2008 The American Physical Society