Search Results (12 total)

A form is given of the retarded electric field and magnetic induction generated by the motion of a charged particle that expresses these fields as integrals of the retarded charge density only, with kernels depending on the charge velocity and acceleration fields. In the case of a single pointlike charge, the usual Liénard-Wiechert fields follow very easily. The set of equations for the dynamics of particles in assigned electromagnetic fields with the self-consistent field is written and integrated. The code Retar for the dynamics of charged particles in external and self-consistent fields is described and a few examples of benchmark are proposed. As a physical application, the case of an electron beam moving in a bending magnetic dipole is examined, and the radiation produced analyzed, in order to characterize a therahertz radiation source.

We studied the generation of low emittance high current monoenergetic beams from plasma waves driven by ultrashort laser pulses, in view of achieving beam brightness of interest for free-electron laser (FEL) applications. The aim is to show the feasibility of generating nC charged beams carrying peak currents much higher than those attainable with photoinjectors, together with comparable emittances and energy spread, compatibly with typical FEL requirements. We identified two regimes: the first is based on a laser wakefield acceleration plasma driving scheme on a gas jet modulated in areas of different densities with sharp density gradients. The second regime is the so-called bubble regime, leaving a full electron-free zone behind the driving laser pulse: with this technique peak currents in excess of 100 kA are achievable. We have focused on the first regime, because it seems more promising in terms of beam emittance. Simulations carried out using VORPAL show, in fact, that in the first regime, using a properly density modulated gas jet, it is possible to generate beams at energies of about 30 MeV with peak currents of 20 kA, slice transverse emittances as low as 0.3 mm mrad, and energy spread around 0.4%. These beams break the barrier of 10¹⁸  A/(mm mrad)² in brightness, a value definitely above the ultimate performances of photoinjectors, therefore opening a new range of opportunities for FEL applications. A few examples of FELs driven by such kind of beams injected into laser undulators are finally shown. The system constituted by the electron beam under the effect of the electromagnetic undulator has been named AOFEL (for all optical free-electron laser).

The new generation of linac injectors driving free electron lasers in the self-amplified stimulated emission (SASE-FEL) regime requires high brightness electron beams to generate radiation in the wavelength range from UV to x rays. The choice of the injector working point and its matching to the linac structure are the key factors to meet this requirement. An emittance compensation scheme presently applied in several photoinjectors worldwide is known as the “Ferrario” working point. In spite of its great importance there was, so far, no direct measurement of the beam parameters, such as emittance, transverse envelope, and energy spread, in the region downstream the rf gun and the solenoid of a photoinjector to validate the effectiveness of this approach. In order to fully characterize the beam dynamics with this scheme, an innovative beam diagnostic device, the emittance meter, consisting of a movable emittance measurement system, has been designed and built. With the emittance meter, measurements of the main beam parameters in both transverse phase spaces can be performed in a wide range of positions downstream the photoinjector. These measurements help in tuning the injector to optimize the working point and provide an important benchmark for the validation of simulation codes. We report the results of these measurements in the SPARC photoinjector and, in particular, the first experimental evidence of the double minimum in the emittance oscillation, which provides the optimized matching to the SPARC linac.

In this Letter we report the first experimental observation of the double emittance minimum effect in the beam dynamics of high-brightness electron beam generation by photoinjectors; this effect, as predicted by the theory, is crucial in achieving minimum emittance in photoinjectors aiming at producing electron beams for short wavelength single-pass free electron lasers. The experiment described in this Letter was performed at the SPARC photoinjector site, during the first stage of commissioning of the SPARC project. The experiment was made possible by a newly conceived device, called an emittance meter, which allows a detailed and unprecedented study of the emittance compensation process as the beam propagates along the beam pipe.

The interaction between high-brilliance electron beams and counterpropagating laser pulses produces x rays via Thomson backscattering. If the laser source is long and intense enough, the electrons of the beam can bunch on the scale of the emitted x-ray wavelength and a regime of collective effects can establish. In this case of dominating collective effects, the FEL instability can develop and the system behaves like a free-electron laser based on an optical undulator. Coherent x rays can be irradiated, with a bandwidth very much thinner than that of the corresponding incoherent emission. The emittance of the electron beam and the distribution nonuniformity of the laser energy are the principal quantities that limit the growth of the x-ray signal. In this work we analyze with a 3D code the transverse effects in the emission produced by a relativistic electron beam when it is under the action of an optical laser pulse and the x-ray spectra obtained. The scalings typical of the optical wiggler, characterized by very short gain lengths and overall time durations of the process, make possible considerable emission also in violation of the Pellegrini criterion for static wigglers. A generalized form of this criterion is validated on the basis of the numerical evidence.

Commissioning of two large coherent light facilities (XFELs) at SLAC and DESY should begin in 2008 and 2011, respectively. In this paper we look further into the future, hoping to answer, in a very preliminary way, two questions. First: What will the next generation of XFEL facilities look like? Believing that superconducting technology offers advantages such as high quality beams with highly populated bunches, the possibility of energy recovery and higher overall efficiency than warm technology, we focus this preliminary study on the superconducting option. From this belief the second question arises: What modifications in superconducting technology and in the machine design are needed, as compared to the present DESY XFEL, and what kind of research and development program should be proposed to arrive in the next few years at a technically feasible solution with even higher brilliance and increased overall conversion of ac power to photon beam power? In this paper we will very often refer to and profit from the DESY XFEL design, acknowledging its many technically innovative solutions.

We present the first observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) in a free-electron laser (FEL) in the vacuum ultraviolet regime at 109 nm wavelength (11 eV). The observed free-electron laser gain (approximately 3000) and the radiation characteristics, such as dependency on bunch charge, angular distribution, spectral width, and intensity fluctuations, are all consistent with the present models for SASE FELs.

The measurement of the transverse phase-space map, or transport matrix, of a relativistic electron in a high-gradient, radio-frequency linear accelerator (rf linac) at the UCLA photoinjector is reported. This matrix, which indicates the effects of acceleration (adiabatic damping), first-order transient focusing, and ponderomotive second-order focusing, is measured as a function of both rf field amplitude and phase in the linac. The elements of the matrix, determined by observation of centroid motion at a set of downstream diagnostics due to deflections induced by a set of upstream steering magnets, compare well with previously developed analytical theory [J. Rosenzweig and L. Serafini, Phys. Rev. E 49, 1599 (1994)]. The determinant of the matrix is obtained, yielding a direct confirmation of trace space adiabatic damping. Implications of these results on beam optics at moderate energy in high-gradient linear accelerators such as rf photoinjectors are discussed.

In this paper we provide an analytical description for the transverse dynamics of relativistic, space-charge-dominated beams undergoing strong acceleration, such as those typically produced by rf photoinjectors. These beams are chiefly characterized by a fast transition, due to strong acceleration, from the nonrelativistic to the relativistic regime in which the initially strong collective plasma effects are greatly diminished. However, plasma oscillations in the transverse plane are still effective in significantly perturbing the evolution of the transverse phase space distribution, introducing distortions and longitudinal-transverse correlations that cause an increase in the rms transverse emittance of the beam as a whole. The beam envelope evolution is dominated by such effects and not by the thermal emittance, and so the beam flow can be considered quasilaminar. The model adopted is based on the rms envelope equation, for which we find an exact particular analytical solution taking into account the effects of linear space-charge forces, external focusing due to applied as well as ponderomotive RF forces, acceleration, and adiabatic damping, in the limit that the weak nonlaminarity due to the thermal emittance may be neglected. This solution represents a special mode for beam propagation that assures a secularly diminishing normalized rms emittance and it represents the fundamental operating condition of a space-charge-compensated RF photoinjector. The conditions for obtaining emittance compensation in a long, integrated photoinjector, in which the gun and linac sections are joined, as well as in the case of a short gun followed by a drift and a booster linac, are examined.

The transverse motion of a relativistic charged particle in a radio-frequency linear accelerator (rf linac) is examined. The spatially averaged equations of motion are derived for a particle in a periodic accelerating cavity system, and solved exactly in the ultrarelativistic limit. These solutions, along with an impulse treatment of the transients at the entrance and exit of the linac cavities, allow derivation of a linear transport matrix through the cavity. This generalized matrix is improved over previously derived results in that it is applicable to both traveling- and standing-wave structures, allows for arbitrary injection phase and spatial-harmonic content of the rf fields, and is more accurate in approximating the exact charged-particle motion.

Spin-flip probability angular distributions for proton scattering from the 2₁⁺ level of ²⁴Mg have been determined between 25° and 165° (in steps of 10°) at 15 incident energies between 14.5 and 35.5 MeV and, to obtain a more detailed energy dependence at backward angles, spin-flip probabilites have also been measured between 115° and 165° at ten additional energies. In order to extend the study of spin-flip probabilities also to other nuclei and to complement previous angular distributions, further backward angle data have been taken at 13 energies for ³²S and near 40 MeV for ¹²C and ²⁸Si. The experimental results have been compared with coupled-channel calculations based on the rotational model and, for ²⁴Mg, also with the predictions of microscopic antisymmetrized distorted wave calculations including two-step contributions. The collective analysis proves that spin-flip probabilities are particularly sensitive to the sign of the quadrupole deformation.

NUCLEAR REACTIONS ²⁴Mg(p,p^′γ), E_p=14.5-41.1 MeV; ³²S(p,p^′γ), E_p=15.5-40.9 MeV; ¹²C(p,p^′γ), E_p=41.1 Mev; ²⁸Si(p,p^′γ), E_p=35.3, 40.9 MeV; measured σ(E_p,θ_p^′,φ_γ=90°) for the 2₁⁺ level; microscopic CC analysis; deduced sign of quadrupole deformation parameters; microscopic ADWBA analysis including two-step GR contributions for ²⁴Mg. ²⁴Mg enriched target. ¹²C, ²⁸Si, and ³²S natural targets.