Prospects for free-electron lasers powered by plasma-wakefield-accelerated beams

Plasma-wakefield-based acceleration technology has the potential to revolutionize the field of particle accelerators. By providing acceleration gradients orders of magnitude larger than conventional radiofrequency particle accelerators, this technology allows accelerators to be reduced to the centimetre length scale. It also provides a new compact approach for driving free-electron lasers, a valuable source of high-brilliance ultrashort coherent radiation within the infrared to X-ray spectral range for the study of subatomic matter, ultrafast dynamics of complex systems and X-ray nonlinear optics, among other applications. Several laboratories around the world are working on the realization of these new light sources, exploring different configurations for the plasma wakefield driver beam, plasma stage design and operational regime. This Review describes the operating principles of plasma accelerators, an overview of recent experimental milestones for plasma-driven free-electron lasers in self-amplified spontaneous emission and seeded configurations, and highlights the remaining major challenges in the field. This Review examines the principles of operation and progress made in developing free-electron lasers that feature plasma-wakefield-acceleration technology.