Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EuPRAXIA-DN (EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-31
EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. It focuses on the development of electron accelerators and underlying technologies, their user communities, and the exploitation of existing accelerator infrastructures in Europe. In June 2021, EuPRAXIA was accepted onto the ESFRI roadmap for strategically important research infrastructures as a European priority.
To fully exploit the potential of this breakthrough facility, advances are urgently required in plasma and laser R&D, studies into facility design and optimization, along with a coordinated push for novel applications. The EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network (EuPRAXIA-DN) is a new research and training initiative for a cohort of 12 Fellows, with 10 Fellows funded by the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MSCA and 2 Fellows funded by the UK Research and Innovation Guarantee Fund.
Recruited from all over the world, EuPRAXIA-DN fellows work together and carry out interdisciplinary and cross-sector plasma accelerator research for the new EuPRAXIA facility. The network’s unique training program provides them with critical employment skills for thriving research careers in both, academia and industry. Bringing together leading research centers, universities and industry partners, the network will pave the way for ground-breaking innovations and train the next generation of specialists.
To fully exploit the potential of this breakthrough facility, advances are urgently required in plasma and laser R&D, studies into facility design and optimization, along with a coordinated push for novel applications. The EuPRAXIA Doctoral Network (EuPRAXIA-DN) is a new research and training initiative for a cohort of 12 Fellows, with 10 Fellows funded by the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions MSCA and 2 Fellows funded by the UK Research and Innovation Guarantee Fund.
Recruited from all over the world, EuPRAXIA-DN fellows work together and carry out interdisciplinary and cross-sector plasma accelerator research for the new EuPRAXIA facility. The network’s unique training program provides them with critical employment skills for thriving research careers in both, academia and industry. Bringing together leading research centers, universities and industry partners, the network will pave the way for ground-breaking innovations and train the next generation of specialists.
EuPRAXIA-DN capitalizes on the existing EuPRAXIA consortium and addresses some of the key scientific and technological challenges of this new research infrastructure across three scientific work packages.
The Laser and Plasma work package tackles the overall optimization of the accelerated electron beam by carrying out comprehensive studies into the optimization of the laser and plasma parameters. The production of high-quality electron bunches, in terms of their energy spectrum and emittance, is recognized as one of the main challenges for the development of innovative, plasma-based electron accelerators for a wide range of applications. It is crucial both for driving secondary sources and for the efficient development of multi-stage acceleration schemes delivering multi-GeV bunches. It heavily depends on the capability to inject bunches into the plasma wave in a well-localized and controlled manner. From simulations to experimental activities the Fellows have demonstrated promising results to improve the coupling of the laser with the plasma. Studies of the laser beam propagation before and in the plasma as well as investigations on the target itself have been conducted with the objective to meet the requirements for the quality and stability of the electron beam for industrial and medical applications.
The cutting edge EuPRAXIA facilities require unprecedented synchronization on the fs-level, as well as beyond state of the art diagnostics to fully characterize the beam. With the impact on novel and more compact X-band accelerating technologies, more compact and versatile facility and beamline designs are being developed. The Facility Design and Optimization work package targets an optimization of the design of laser- and beam-driven plasma accelerator facilities, specifically through the development of superior beam diagnostics and synchronization technologies as required for optimum beam quality. Research activities are carried out to study different diagnostics specifically designed for the characteristics of plasma accelerators as well as a prototype of a X-band Low level Radio Frequency (RF) front end system for more efficient accelerating technology.
Finally, in the Applications work package, network partners join forces to develop breakthrough scientific monitors and pave the way for innovative applications that show great economic and social promise. EuPRAXIA provides an exciting platform to explore new, highly flexible radiation sources which can allow proton and ion beams to be captured at energies significantly above the proton- and ion-capture energies that pertain in conventional facilities, thereby evading the current space-charge limit on the instantaneous dose rate that can be delivered. Within this work package, other methods of radiation production such as the one induced by the interaction of the electron beam with the intense laser beam from non-linear Thomson Scattering are also examined. Research towards a novel type of acceleration scheme with the THz-driven dielectric accelerators, and a new generation of light source with the laser-driven free electron laser are also underway, opening doors for numerous new applications in multidisciplinary fields.
The Laser and Plasma work package tackles the overall optimization of the accelerated electron beam by carrying out comprehensive studies into the optimization of the laser and plasma parameters. The production of high-quality electron bunches, in terms of their energy spectrum and emittance, is recognized as one of the main challenges for the development of innovative, plasma-based electron accelerators for a wide range of applications. It is crucial both for driving secondary sources and for the efficient development of multi-stage acceleration schemes delivering multi-GeV bunches. It heavily depends on the capability to inject bunches into the plasma wave in a well-localized and controlled manner. From simulations to experimental activities the Fellows have demonstrated promising results to improve the coupling of the laser with the plasma. Studies of the laser beam propagation before and in the plasma as well as investigations on the target itself have been conducted with the objective to meet the requirements for the quality and stability of the electron beam for industrial and medical applications.
The cutting edge EuPRAXIA facilities require unprecedented synchronization on the fs-level, as well as beyond state of the art diagnostics to fully characterize the beam. With the impact on novel and more compact X-band accelerating technologies, more compact and versatile facility and beamline designs are being developed. The Facility Design and Optimization work package targets an optimization of the design of laser- and beam-driven plasma accelerator facilities, specifically through the development of superior beam diagnostics and synchronization technologies as required for optimum beam quality. Research activities are carried out to study different diagnostics specifically designed for the characteristics of plasma accelerators as well as a prototype of a X-band Low level Radio Frequency (RF) front end system for more efficient accelerating technology.
Finally, in the Applications work package, network partners join forces to develop breakthrough scientific monitors and pave the way for innovative applications that show great economic and social promise. EuPRAXIA provides an exciting platform to explore new, highly flexible radiation sources which can allow proton and ion beams to be captured at energies significantly above the proton- and ion-capture energies that pertain in conventional facilities, thereby evading the current space-charge limit on the instantaneous dose rate that can be delivered. Within this work package, other methods of radiation production such as the one induced by the interaction of the electron beam with the intense laser beam from non-linear Thomson Scattering are also examined. Research towards a novel type of acceleration scheme with the THz-driven dielectric accelerators, and a new generation of light source with the laser-driven free electron laser are also underway, opening doors for numerous new applications in multidisciplinary fields.
EuPRAXIA will be the first beam- and laser-driven plasma-based research facility with superior beam quality. It will tackle the limitations on size and cost and offer opportunities for a variety of different applications in accelerator and laser science, high-energy physics, material processing and analysis, photon science as well as medicine and life sciences. All of the EuPRAXIA-DN’s projects directly contribute to the realization of EuPRAXIA. This European priority research infrastructure aims at making accelerators available as versatile tools to new users and in new locations. This has excellent potential to democratize access to accelerators and create major advances in knowledge and capabilities, some of them yet unimaginable.
EuPRAXIA-DN provides an ideal framework for researcher training as its research program requires inter-disciplinary expert knowledge in a number of different fields ranging from plasma and laser physics to material sciences, optics, computer simulation, IT and High-Performance Computing. The network’s R&D is on the cutting edge of science and technology and directly targets a European priority research infrastructure. This is a fertile ground for the training of early stage researchers. Consequently, the network’s training program is designed to address a wide range of employment skills with the aim to provide all fellows with the competences required for their future researcher careers in both, academia and industry.
EuPRAXIA-DN provides an ideal framework for researcher training as its research program requires inter-disciplinary expert knowledge in a number of different fields ranging from plasma and laser physics to material sciences, optics, computer simulation, IT and High-Performance Computing. The network’s R&D is on the cutting edge of science and technology and directly targets a European priority research infrastructure. This is a fertile ground for the training of early stage researchers. Consequently, the network’s training program is designed to address a wide range of employment skills with the aim to provide all fellows with the competences required for their future researcher careers in both, academia and industry.