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Stable double-bunch beam generation for plasma wakefield accelerators via coherent synchrotron radiation-tolerant isochronous beamlines

Wei Li, Zhongtian Liu, Zhu Ming, Haijing Wang, Cai Meng*, and Yi Jiao

  • *Contact author: mengc@ihep.ac.cn

Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 084901 – Published 6 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/whjk-lq23

Abstract

Beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration represents a promising strategy for producing high-energy electron and positron beams in future accelerator facilities. A key challenge in realizing high-quality acceleration is the production of high-charge, high-stability double-bunch beams, as existing methods are often limited to low charges or suffer from significant charge loss. In this paper, we propose a coherent synchrotron radiation-tolerant beam-merging scheme using twin isochronous beamlines that share a common dipole magnet to generate a high-charge double-bunch beam with excellent stability. Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed scheme generates a 5 nC/1 nC electron double-bunch beam that exhibits no charge loss, with emittance growths of both bunches constrained to approximately 0.1  mm mrad, and an interbunch timing jitter maintained below ±2  fs. The robustness of the scheme is evaluated, and its potential use in large-scale accelerator facilities is emphasized for supplying high-quality drive beams for plasma wakefield accelerators.

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