Design considerations for simultaneous FEL and nuclear physics operation at CEBAF

Abstract

As conceived in a recent design study, electron beams of quite distinct character would be provided for nuclear physics experiments and FEL wigglers at CEBAF. When full nuclear physics operation begins, coordination between these two programs becomes critical. FEL operation requires electron bunches carrying charge of 120 pC at repetition rates of 2.5 and 7.5 MHz, whereas the nuclear physics users need a relatively small charge per bunch, ~ 0.13 pC, but at a repetition rate of 1.5 GHz. To allow maximal operation of the FEL facility without interfering with CEBAF's primary mission of conducting nuclear physics research, the principal mode of operation should accelerate and deliver the two disparate beams simultaneously with negligible degradation of beam quality. Various RF power, RF control, wakefield, and beam transport questions that are encountered in designing for concurrent operation are discussed.