The field of plasma wakefield acceleration, which the network plans to develop, is changing fast. Interesting electron beams of 0.3–1 GeV, with 1.5–2.5% energy spread, have now been produced in several places including France, Germany, the UK and the US, with promising reproducibility. Conventional accelerator laboratories are now interested to see if an operational electron accelerator can be built and used successfully for pilot applications in science. Here, a low repetition, plasma-based FEL is a central goal. However, first pilot applications at low energy for HEP are also being considered. To avoid replication of work and to gather critical mass, a European project with distributed work across many labs is envisaged for creating such a new device. Amongst other benefits, sharing of facilities and tests could ease the present restrictions on beam time experienced by many researchers.
EuroNNAc member institutes are planning to apply for an EU Design Study within H2020 for a "European Plasma Accelerator with high quality and Pilot Applications". In this meeting we will discuss the envisaged application, exact scope and finalize the participants.
In addition, several new technological ideas in the area of plasma acceleration are being considered for applications in the H2020 program of future emerging technologies (FET). The preselected three proposals will be discussed with the goal to arrive at an optimized and coherent overall program for European plasma acceleration efforts.
The event is supported by EuCARD-2 and LA³NET.
There is no fee for this meeting, but advanced registration is required.
The network can provide travel support. Please contact ruth.mundt@desy.de.
