Drive beam depletion with multi-Joule energy transfer in a plasma wakefield accelerator

Abstract

A collider based on beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration will require the drive beam to transfer 10-100s of Joules to the plasma in each stage, with a drive-to-wake energy transfer efficiency exceeding 70%. Using an all-optical plasma source, we demonstrate significant progress towards these parameters, transferring at least 5.6 J from a 1.52 nC, 10 GeV electron beam to a $4.5\times 10^{16}\,\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$ hydrogen plasma while achieving at least $37\pm 3\%$ drive-to-wake energy transfer efficiency. We observe deceleration of some particles to less than 0.93 GeV with up to 90% of the charge participating in the interaction.