Editing Linear particle accelerator (section)

=== Kielfeld accelerator (plasma accelerator) ===
In cavity resonators, the dielectric strength limits the maximum acceleration that can be achieved within a certain distance. This limit can be circumvented using accelerated waves in plasma to generate the accelerating field in [[Plasma acceleration|Kielfeld accelerators]]: A laser or particle beam excites an oscillation in a [[Plasma (physics)|plasma]], which is associated with very strong electric field strengths. This means that significantly (factors of 100s to 1000s ) more compact linear accelerators can possibly be built. Experiments involving high power lasers in metal vapour plasmas suggest that a beam line length reduction from some tens of metres to a few cm is quite possible.