iMPACT, undulator-based multi-bunch plasma accelerator

The accelerating gradient measured in laser or electron driven wakefield accelerators can be in the range of 10-100GV/m, which is 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than can be achieved by conventional RF-based particle accelerators. However, the beam quality preservation is still an important problem to be tackled to ensure the practicality of this technology. In this global picture, the main goals of this study are planning and coordinating a physics program, the so-called iMPACT, that addresses issues such as emittance growth mechanisms in the transverse and longitudinal planes through scattering from the plasma particles, minimisation of the energy spread and maximising the energy gain while benchmarking the milestones. In this paper, a summary and planning of the project is introduced and initial multi-bunch simulations were presented.