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The space-charge field of a relativistic charged bunch propagating in plasma is screened due to the presence of mobile charge carriers. We experimentally investigate such screening by measuring the effect of dielectric wakefields driven by the bunch in a uncoated dielectric capillary where the plasma is confined. We show that the plasma screens the space-charge field and therefore suppresses the dielectric wakefields when the distance between the bunch and the dielectric surface is much larger than the plasma skin depth. Before full screening is reached, the effects of dielectric and plasma wakefields are present simultaneously.

Plasma wakefield acceleration represented a breakthrough in the field of particle accelerators by pushing beams to gigaelectronvolt energies within centimeter distances. The large electric fields excited by a driver pulse in the plasma can efficiently accelerate a trailing witness bunch paving the way toward the realization of laboratory-scale applications like free-electron lasers. However, while the accelerator size is tremendously reduced, upstream and downstream of it the beams are still handled with conventional magnetic optics with sizable footprints and rather long focal lengths. Here we show the operation of a compact device that integrates two active-plasma lenses with short focal lengths to assist the plasma accelerator stage. We demonstrate the focusing and energy gain of a witness bunch whose phase space is completely characterized in terms of energy and emittance. These results represent an important step toward the accelerator miniaturization and the development of next-generation table-top machines.