Generation of wakefields in a dielectric structure filled with plasma

Abstract

The effect of plasma on the amplitude of the wakefield excited in a dielectric structure by a relativistic electron bunch train is studied. The structure under study is a dielectric cylindrical waveguide with an axial drift channel filled with plasma. The dependences of the amplitude of a longitudinal electric field on the plasma density are obtained for the following three cases: the parameters of the dielectric structure and bunches are fixed; the inside or outside radius of the dielectric tube changes according a change in the plasma frequency, and the bunch repetition frequency is adjusted to the plasma frequency and the frequency of the first radial mode of a dielectric wave. It is shown that, when the eigenwave frequencies are adjusted to the bunch repetition frequency via a change in the structure radii, the maximum of the accelerating field is determined by a plasma wave, and there is a plasma density range where a dielectric wave significantly contributes to the total field amplitude. In the case of changing the outside radius, this range is substantially wider.