Observation of Wakefield Suppression in a Photonic-Band-Gap Accelerator Structure

We report experimental observation of higher order mode (HOM) wakefield suppression in a room-temperature traveling-wave photonic-band-gap (PBG) accelerating structure at 11.700 GHz. It has been long recognized that PBG structures have the potential for reducing long-range wakefields in accelerators. The first ever demonstration of acceleration in a room-temperature PBG structure was conducted in 2005. Since then, the importance of PBG accelerator research has been recognized by many institutions. However, the full experimental characterization of the wakefield spectrum and demonstration of wakefield suppression when the accelerating structure is excited by an electron beam has not been performed to date. We conducted an experiment at the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator test facility and observed wakefields excited by a single high charge electron bunch when it passes through a PBG accelerator structure. Excellent HOM suppression properties of the PBG accelerator were demonstrated in the beam test.