Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Utilizing laser-wakefield accelerated (LWFA) electrons to drive aplasma-wakefield accelerator (PWFA) holds great promise for realizingcentimeter-scale electron accelerators providing ultra-high brightnessbeams. Recent experiments at HZDR could demonstrate for the first timesuch an electron acceleration in a nonlinear PWFA plasma wakefield. Fordriving this compact hybrid accelerator setup, high-charge electronbunches from LWFA self-truncated ionization injection were used.In this talk, we present recent results of the accompanying simulationcampaign performed with the 3D3V particle-in-cell code PIConGPU. Thesesimulations model the geometry, density distributions, laser modes, andgas dopings as determined in the experiments. The simulation conditionsresemble the experiment to a very high degree and thus provide goodcomparability between experiment and simulation. Additionally, thewealth of information provided by the in-situ data analysis of PIConGPU provides insight into the plasma dynamics, otherwise inaccessible inexperiments.From an algorithmic and computational perspective, we modeled the hybridaccelerator from start to end in a single simulation scenario. Wediscuss the associated challenges in maintaining numerical stability andexperimental comparability of these long-duration simulations.