Search Results (3 total)

We report experiments at Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jlab) and computer simulations performed at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) designed to probe the small Rayleigh length regime. We compare the gain, power, and sensitivity to mirror and electron beam misalignments as a function of decreasing Rayleigh length. The agreement is quite good, with experiments and simulations showing comparable trends as the Rayleigh length is decreased. In particular, we find that the gain and power do not decrease substantially at short Rayleigh length, contrary to a common Gaussian-mode filling factor argument. Within currently achievable alignment tolerances, the gain and power are still acceptable for FEL operation.

Conventional free electron laser (FEL) oscillators minimize the optical mode volume around the electron beam in the undulator by making the resonator Rayleigh length about one third to one half of the undulator length. This maximizes gain and beam-mode coupling. In compact configurations of high-power infrared FELs or moderate power UV FELs, the resulting optical intensity can damage the resonator mirrors. To increase the spot size and thereby reduce the optical intensity at the mirrors below the damage threshold, a shorter Rayleigh length can be used, but the FEL interaction is significantly altered. We model this interaction using a coordinate system that expands with the rapidly diffracting optical mode from the ends of the undulator to the mirrors. Simulations show that the interaction of the strongly focused optical mode with a narrow electron beam inside the undulator distorts the optical wave front so it is no longer in the fundamental Gaussian mode. The simulations are used to study how mode distortion affects the single-pass gain in weak fields, and the steady-state extraction in strong fields.

Motivated by the prospect of constructing a short Rayleigh length free-electron laser in a high-vibration environment, we demonstrate the use of a collection of rays to study the effect of mirror vibration and distortion on the behavior of the fundamental optical mode of a cold-cavity resonator. We find that the ray collection accurately describes both on-axis and off-axis optical beams. We show that a tilt or transverse shift of a mirror causes the optical mode to rock about the original resonator axis, while a longitudinal mirror shift or a change in the mirror’s radius of curvature causes the beam diameter at a mirror to successively dilate and contract on the mirror. Results are in excellent agreement with analytic calculations and wave front propagation simulations as long as the mirrors remain large with respect to the beam diameter.