A compact electron injector for the EIC based on plasma wakefields driven by the RHIC-EIC proton beam

Abstract

Initial simulations investigating using the RHIC-EIC proton beam as the drive beam in a plasma wakefield acceleration experiment are presented. The proton beam enters the plasma and undergoes self-modulation, forming a series of microbunches. These microbunches resonantly drive electron density perturbations within the plasma, exciting a longitudinal electric field with accelerating gradients in excess of $\mathrm{GVm^{-1}}$. Injecting electrons into the resulting wakefield offers an efficient method for accelerating electron bunches for use in the proposed EIC collider.