Development of Tunable, Precision Permanent Magnet Phase Shifter for X-Ray FEL

Abstract

In an X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL), a high quality relativistic electron beam from a linear accelerator traverses an array of undulator magnets to generate a high power X-ray beam by allowing the FEL to reach saturation. In many XFELs, phase shifters haven’t been commonly used or included in their designs. The importance of the phase shifter was recognized only recently. A phase shifter can be constructed using either an electromagnet (EM) or a permanent magnet (PM). EM phase shifters are heavy, complex to operate, and take more valuable longitudinal space between the undulators. Compared to EMs, the PMs have several outstanding advantages, including compactness, lighter weights, simple operation, and low maintenance. This project has developed an innovative design of fixed-gap, tunable PM-based compact phase shifter for the XFEL. While keeping the poles and gap fixed, the new design incorporates proven features from the prior work, along with novel field tuning methods, which allow the field strength to be adjusted within a reasonably large range to achieve the desired range of the phase delay control. The PM design without electric currents and power electronics associated with EMs improves reliability by reducing the number of possible points of failure and lowers the operation cost. The compactness makes it possible to use PM phase shifters in the existing XFELs with small gaps between adjacent undulators, as well as in the new XFELs without significantly increasing the FEL length. In Phase I we have accomplished the followings; 1) determined the optimum physics parameters for both weak and strong phase shifters; 2) conducted magnetic design with concrete magnetic and geometrical parameters of actual produced PM materials; 3) provided solutions to achieve precision fine tuning of the magnetic fields with unique methods; 4) elaborated a design based upon ease of manufacturing and cost analysis; and 5) produced rare-earth PM materials, which will be used for prototyping in Phase II. The phase I results provide a foundation for the research and development in the Phase II project, which will aim at building two full-size PM phase shifters and testing at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. This project will significantly provide the potential to bring a paradigm change in accelerator technology, replacing conventional electromagnets for many existing accelerator applications and allowing the development of new applications in completely new areas. For example, the PM FEL phase shifters can help significantly improve coherence and power of an XFEL. The proposed use of PM phase shifters will also bring significant cost savings to the construction, operation and maintenance of FEL facilities.