Search Results (11 total)

In this paper we report on large-scale high resolution simulations of beam dynamics in electron linacs for the next-generation x-ray free electron lasers (FELs). We describe key features of a parallel macroparticle simulation code including three-dimensional (3D) space-charge effects, short-range structure wakefields, coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) wakefields, and treatment of radio-frequency (rf) accelerating cavities using maps obtained from axial field profiles. We present a study of the microbunching instability causing severe electron beam fragmentation in the longitudinal phase space which is a critical issue for future FELs. Using parameters for a proposed FEL linac at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), we show that a large number of macroparticles (beyond 100 million) is generally needed to control the numerical macroparticle shot noise and avoid overestimating the microbunching instability. We explore the effect of the longitudinal grid on simulation results. We also study the effect of initial uncorrelated energy spread on the final uncorrelated energy spread of the beam for the FEL linac.

Specific requirements for the electron beam in harmonic cascade-free electron lasers, together with means to produce such beams, are presented. All results are illustrated with simulations and particle tracking studies.

We report the first observation of laser seeding of the storage-ring microbunching instability. Above a threshold bunch current, the interaction of the beam and its radiation results in a coherent instability, observed as a series of stochastic bursts of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) at terahertz frequencies initiated by fluctuations in the beam density. We have observed that this effect can be seeded by imprinting an initial density modulation on the beam by means of laser “slicing.” In such a situation, most of the bursts of CSR become synchronous with the pulses of the modulating laser and their average intensity scales exponentially with the current per bunch. We present detailed experimental observations of the seeding effect and a model of the phenomenon. This seeding mechanism also creates potential applications as a high-power source of CSR at terahertz frequencies.

We present a new method to generate steady and tunable, coherent, broadband terahertz radiation from a relativistic electron beam modulated by a femtosecond laser. We have demonstrated this in the electron storage ring at the Advanced Light Source. Interaction of an electron beam with a femtosecond laser pulse copropagating through a wiggler modulates the electron energies within a short slice of the electron bunch with about the same duration of the laser pulse. The bunch develops a longitudinal density perturbation due to the dispersion of electron trajectories, and the resulting hole emits short pulses of temporally and spatially coherent terahertz pulses synchronized to the laser. We present measurements of the intensity and spectra of these pulses. This technique allows tremendous flexibility in shaping the terahertz pulse by appropriate modulation of the laser pulse.

We describe a technique for the generation of a solitary attosecond x-ray pulse in a free-electron laser (FEL), via a process of self-amplified spontaneous emission. In this method, electrons experience an energy modulation upon interacting with laser pulses having a duration of a few cycles within single-period wiggler magnets. Two consecutive modulation sections, followed by compression in a dispersive section, are used to obtain a single, subfemtosecond spike in the electron peak current. This region of the electron beam experiences an enhanced growth rate for FEL amplification. After propagation through a long undulator, this current spike emits a ∼250   attosecond x-ray pulse whose intensity dominates the x-ray emission from the rest of the electron bunch.

A new method for electron beam conditioning in free electron lasers is proposed. It uses the electron beam interaction with a laser light in two wiggler magnets separated by a strong-focusing channel. The effect of the conditioning is illustrated by the example of a hypothetical single-pass, high-gain free electron laser operating in the self-amplified spontaneous emission mode with the x-ray emission at λ_x=1.5   Å. The proposed conditioner is relatively compact and can be used as a practical add-on device to short x-ray wavelength free electron lasers.

We describe a technique by which an energy modulation of electrons via interaction with a laser pulse in a wiggler magnet is used for a significant increase of the electron peak current prior to entering a long self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free electron laser undulator. This results in a reduction of the gain length for the SASE process and a modification of the structure of the output x-ray radiation. It also temporally links the output x-ray pulse to the initial laser pulse, thus providing an opportunity for accurate synchronization between the laser pump pulse and x-ray probe pulse for pump-probe experiments.

We propose the use of an ultrarelativistic electron beam interacting with a few-cycle, intense laser pulse and an intense pulse of the coherent x rays to produce a multi-MW intensity, x-ray pulses ≈100  attoseconds in duration. Because of a naturally occurring frequency chirp, these pulses can be further temporally compressed.

We propose using an optical parametric amplifier, with a ∼12   μm wavelength, for optical-stochastic cooling of ⁷⁹Au ions in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. While the bandwidth of this amplifier is comparable to that of a Ti:sapphire laser, it has a higher average output power. Its wavelength is longer than that of the laser amplifiers previously considered for such an application. This longer wavelength permits a longer undulator period and higher magnetic field, thereby generating a larger signal from the pickup undulator and ensuring a more efficient interaction in the kicker undulator, both being essential elements in cooling moderately relativistic ions. The transition to a longer wavelength also relaxes the requirements for stability of the path length during ion-beam transport between pickup and kicker undulators.

A method capable of producing femtosecond pulses of synchrotron radiation is proposed. It is based on the interaction of femtosecond light pulses with electrons in a storage ring. The application of the method to the generation of ultrashort x-ray pulses at the Advanced Light Source of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been considered. The same method can also be used for extraction of electrons from a storage ring in ultrashort series of microbunches spaced by the periodicity of light wavelength.

A transit-time method for stochastic cooling is extended and developed for optical stochastic cooling. Limitations on the dumping times are analyzed. Illustrative applications of the method to the cooling of electrons, protons, and heavy ions are considered.