From plasma acceleration to accelerators ? Status of laser and plasma accelerator development in Dresden

Laser plasma acceleration promises unprecedented acceleration gradients and unique beam parameters, yet often suffers from lack of reproducibility, control or simply target debris. At HZDR, aiming for applications in radiobiology, we have compared several target approaches with respect to these issues and performed first spread-out Bragg peak irradiation of test samples. This work is complemented by the development of single-shot on target laser diagnostics as well as the long-term development of the diode laser pumped Petawatt laser Penelope. Progress in all projects will be presented and controlled acceleration of electron peak currents in the range exceeding 10 kA highlighted.