Design, construction and characterization of the compact ultrafast terahertz free-electron laser undulator

Abstract

A compact ultrafast terahertz (CUTE) free-electron laser (FEL) is being developed at the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore. The undulator required for the CUTE-FEL has recently been developed. We have designed, built and characterized a variable gap, 5 cm period, 2.5 m long pure permanent magnet undulator in two identical segments. The tolerable error in the magnetic field was 1% in rms, and we have measured it to be 0.7%. The obtained rms phase shake is around 2°. To ensure that the trajectories do not have an exit error in position or angle, corrector coils have been designed. Shimming coils have been applied for both the undulator segments to reduce the amplitude of the betatron oscillations in the vertical trajectory. Details of novel corrector coils and soft iron shims are given and their performance is discussed.