title: Multi-GeV energy gain in a plasma-wakefield accelerator.
abstract: A plasma-wakefield accelerator has accelerated particles by over 2.7 GeV in a 10 cm long plasma module. A 28.5 GeV electron beam with 1.8 x 10(10) electrons is compressed to 20 microm longitudinally and focused to a transverse spot size of 10 microm at the entrance of a 10 cm long column of lithium vapor with density 2.8 x 10(17) atoms/cm3. The electron bunch fully ionizes the lithium vapor to create a plasma and then expels the plasma electrons. These electrons return one-half plasma period later driving a large amplitude plasma wake that in turn accelerates particles in the back of the bunch by more than 2.7 GeV.
authors.affiliation: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94309, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Clayton
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Decker
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emma
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Iverson
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsouleas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krejcik
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muggli
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oz
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Siemann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walz