Abstract
A simple, passive method for producing an adjustable train of picosecond electron bunches is demonstrated. The key component of this method is an electron beam mask consisting of an array of parallel wires that selectively spoils the beam emittance. This mask is positioned in a high magnetic dispersion, low beta-function region of the beam line. The incoming electron beam striking the mask has a time/energy correlation that corresponds to a time/position correlation at the mask location. The mask pattern is transformed into a time pattern or train of bunches when the dispersion is brought back to zero downstream of the mask. Results are presented of a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrating this novel technique that was performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Accelerator Test Facility. This technique allows for easy tailoring of the bunch train for a particular application, including varying the bunch width and spacing, and enabling the generation of a trailing witness bunch.
Highlights
In recent years there has been an increasing interest and demand for single as well as trains of ultrashort electron bunches for application to free electron lasers (FELs) [1], x-ray generation [2], plasma wakefield accelerators (PWFA) [3,4,5], and other advanced schemes such as the particle acceleration by stimulated emission of radiation [6]
It was shown that the inverse free electron laser (IFEL) effect can produce a train of % 150, % 3 fs long bunches separated by % 30 fs, the period of the CO2 laser pulse that drives the IFEL [10]
That method was proposed in Ref. [22] to modulate the current of an electron bunch in order to significantly reduce the gain length of a FEL lasing in the infrared range
Summary
In recent years there has been an increasing interest and demand for single as well as trains of ultrashort (picosecond and femtosecond) electron bunches for application to free electron lasers (FELs) [1], x-ray generation [2], plasma wakefield accelerators (PWFA) [3,4,5], and other advanced schemes such as the particle acceleration by stimulated emission of radiation [6]. [22] to modulate the current of an electron bunch in order to significantly reduce the gain length of a FEL lasing in the infrared range Another masking method using a mask and time phase space rotation was suggested to generate tailored trains of bunches [23]. We present detailed experimental results obtained at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) that demonstrate the validity of the proposed masking method to produce trains of subpicosecond electron bunches that can be tailored for various applications. These results complement those presented in the recent demonstration publication [20]. VII we present ways to enhance the method utility as well as other possible applications
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