Trends and Prospects in Laser–Plasma Accelerator

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past three decades, laser–plasma acceleration has undergone a significant advancement, demonstrating accelerating gradients exceeding 100 GV/m—several orders of magnitude beyond those of conventional RF accelerators. Concurrently, substantial progress has been made in improving the phase space quality, stability, and tunability of the accelerated electron beams.

Despite these achievements, several critical challenges must be addressed to transition laser–plasma accelerators from proof-of-concept experiments to reliable sources for scientific and industrial applications. These include the following:

• enhancing the shot-to-shot stability and reproducibility of the laser-driven wakefield,
• controlling laser–plasma instabilities over centimeter- to meter-scale interaction lengths,
• enabling high-repetition-rate operation compatible with kHz-class laser drivers,
• ensuring thermal and mechanical robustness of plasma sources and optical components,
• developing efficient staging strategies for energy gain beyond single-stage limitations.

This Special Issue will focus on these and related topics, aiming to address the fundamental and technological barriers toward the deployment of laser–plasma accelerators as compact, high-brightness beam sources for user-oriented facilities.

Dr. Mario Galletti
Dr. Livio Verra
Guest Editors

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