Parallel Simulation of Underdense Plasma Photocathode Experiments

The underdense plasma photocathode concept (aka Trojan horse) [1,2] is a promising approach to achieving fs-scale electron bunches with pC-scale charge and transverse normalized emittance below 0.01 mm-mrad, yielding peak currents of order 100 A and beam brightness as high as $10^{19} A/m^2/rad^2$, for a wide range of achievable beam energies up to 10 GeV. A proof-of-principle experiment will be conducted at the FACET user facility in early 2014. We present 2D and 3D simulations with physical parameters relevant to the planned experiment.\\[4pt] [1] Hidding et al., PRL 108:035001 (2012).\\[0pt] [2] Xi et al., PRST-AB 16:031303 (2013).