Publications Repository - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

An LPWFA accelerator uses electrons from a laser wakefield accelerator stage to drive a second plasma wakefield accelerator stage. This approach makes it possible to downscale PWFAs from kilometer-sized facilities to tabletop experiments and makes the improved beam quality of PWFAs available to LWFA laboratories. The experimental realization of the hybrid accelerator at HZDR was accompanied by a simulation campaign with the fully GPU accelerated, 3D3V particle-in-cell PIConGPU. Running simulations on modern GPUs allowed reducing simulation time while modeling different experimental settings in a fully three-dimensional setup. The latter enabled studying the influence of tilted shock fronts and few-cycle probes, among others. In this talk, we will not only introduce the general concept but also discuss some of the recent results obtained using particle-in-cell simulations. Moreover, the technical innovations in PIConGPU that have enabled these new types of simulations will also be briefly addressed.