# FLASHForward: Plasma-wakefield accelerator science for high-average-power applications

## TL;DR

FLASHForward is a high-power plasma-wakefield accelerator facility capable of accelerating electron beams to GeV energies with high repetition rates, enabling advanced research for next-generation accelerator applications.

## Contribution

It introduces the FLASHForward facility, the first to combine high-average-power plasma-wakefield acceleration with high repetition rates for benchmarking and development.

## Key findings

- Achieves 30 kW average power in plasma-wakefield acceleration.
- Provides GeV-level electron acceleration in a compact setup.
- Enables high-repetition-rate experiments for future accelerator development.

## Abstract

The FLASHForward experimental facility is a high-performance test-bed for precision plasma-wakefield research, aiming to accelerate high-quality electron beams to GeV-levels in a few centimetres of ionised gas. The plasma is created by ionising gas in a gas cell either by a high-voltage discharge or a high-intensity laser pulse. The electrons to be accelerated will either be injected internally from the plasma background or externally from the FLASH superconducting RF front end. In both cases the wakefield will be driven by electron beams provided by the FLASH gun and linac modules operating with a 10 Hz macro-pulse structure, generating 1.25 GeV, 1 nC electron bunches at up to 3 MHz micro-pulse repetition rates. At full capacity, this FLASH bunch-train structure corresponds to 30 kW of average power, orders of magnitude higher than drivers available to other state-of-the-art LWFA and PWFA experiments. This high-power functionality means FLASHForward is the only plasma-wakefield facility in the world with the immediate capability to develop, explore, and benchmark high-average-power plasma-wakefield research essential for next-generation facilities. The operational parameters and technical highlights of the experiment are discussed, as well as the scientific goals and high-average-power outlook.