New accelerator technique doubles particle energy in just one meter

The blue streak in this photograph shows the dramatic gain in energy made by some of the electrons in a bunch after passing through plasma (ionized gas). The white spot shows the electrons in the bunch that generated the plasma to propel the other electrons to double their energy, to 85 billion electron volts (GeV). The electrons can be photographed because they emit blue light as they pass through air. Credit: SLAC