Longitudinal Phase Space Research Articles

Fragment separator momentum compression schemes

We present a scheme to use a fragment separator and profiled energy degraders to transfer longitudinal phase space into transverse phase space while maintaining achromatic beam transport. The first order beam optics theory of the method is presented and the consequent enlargement of the transverse phase space is discussed. An interesting consequence of the technique is that the first order mass resolving power of the system is determined by the first dispersive section up to the energy degrader, independent of whether or not momentum compression is used. The fragment separator at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is a specific application of this technique and is described along with simulations by the code COSY INFINITY.

Flash II: Perspectives and challenges

FLASH has been a user facility since 2005, delivering radiation in the wavelength range between 7 and 47 nm using the SASE principle. After the present upgrade, the wavelength range is extended to 4.45 nm. With the third harmonic accelerating module in place to linearize the longitudinal phase space, the stability and reproducibility of the machine is substantially improved. The user requests for beam time by far exceeds the time available. In order to increase user beam time and to improve the radiation properties delivered to users, a major extension of the user facility called FLASH II has been proposed by DESY in collaboration with the HZB. FLASH II is a seeded FEL in the parameter range of FLASH. As logical continuation, the seeding with HHG which started with sFLASH will result in direct seeding. Because in the foreseeable future there will probably not be HHG seed lasers available at high repetition rates down to wavelengths of 4 nm, a cascaded HGHG scheme is proposed to produce short wavelengths. After a first design report, the project now enters its technical design phase. During this time, the FLASH beam parameters after the present upgrade 2009/2010 will be characterized and the present design will be re-evaluated and adjusted. In addition, start-to-end simulations will complete the simulations which have been performed so far, including a design of the extraction area.

Comparative study of nonideal beam effects in high gain harmonic generation and self-seeded free electron lasers

In this paper we investigate and compare the properties of two narrow-bandwidth free-electron laser (FEL) schemes, one using self-seeding and the other high gain harmonic generation (HGHG). The two systems have been thoroughly studied analytically and numerically in the past. The aim of this work is to compare their performances when the FEL is driven by an electron beam with nonideal properties, thus including effects such as shot-to-shot energy fluctuations and nonlinear energy chirp. In both cases nonlinearities produce a bandwidth larger than the Fourier transform limited value. However, our analysis indicates that, for approximately the same output power levels, the self-seeding scheme is less affected than the HGHG scheme by quadratic energy chirps in the electron beam longitudinal phase space. This is confirmed by a specific numerical example corresponding to SPARX parameters where the electron beam was optimized to minimize the FEL gain length. The work has been carried out with the aid of the time dependent FEL codes GENESIS 1.3 (3D) and PERSEO (1D).

Short wavelength seeding through compression for free electron lasers

In this paper, we propose a seeding scheme that compresses an initial laser modulation in the longitudinal phase space of an electron beam by using two opposite sign bunch compressors and two opposite sign energy chirpers. This scheme could potentially reduce the initial modulation wavelength by a factor of C and increase the energy modulation amplitude by a factor of C, where C is the compression factor of the first bunch compressor. Using two lasers as energy chirpers, such a modulation compression scheme can generate kilo-Amper short wavelength current modulation with significant bunching factor from an initial a few tens Amper current. This compression scheme can also be used to generate a prebunched single atto-second short wavelength current modulation and prebunched two color, two atto-second modulations.

Passive longitudinal phase space linearizer

We report on the possibility to passively linearize the bunch compression process in electron linacs for the next generation x-ray free electron lasers. This can be done by using the monopole wakefields in a dielectric-lined waveguide. The optimum longitudinal voltage loss over the length of the bunch is calculated in order to compensate both the second-order rf time curvature and the second-order momentum compaction terms. Thus, the longitudinal phase space after the compression process is linearized up to a fourth-order term introduced by the convolution between the bunch and the monopole wake function.

Longitudinal phase-space and transverse slice emittance measurements of high-brightness electron beams at ISIR, Osaka University

In order to measure the longitudinal phase-space profile and transverse slice emittances of the electron beam, we are developing a compact measurement system that consists of a Cherenkov radiator and a streak camera. The Cherenkov radiator with the aerogel has been installed on the downstream side of the bending magnet in the beam transport, and the preliminary profile image of the electron beam in the longitudinal phase-space has been obtained.

Energy Recovery Linacs for Light Sources

Energy recovery linacs (ERLs), which can generate an electron beam having a high average current and a small-emittance with the complete manipulation of electron beams in the transverse and the longitudinal phase space, are expected to realize future light sources for various photon energies from terahertz to x- and γ-rays. In this paper, we present an overview of the history, current status, and prospects of ERLs for light sources. Research activities on the critical components of the ERLs, such as electron guns and superconducting cavities, are also described.

Electron-bunch compression using a dynamical nonlinearity correction for a compact x-ray free-electron laser

We propose a novel method to achieve a highly brilliant electron bunch with a peak current of several kA in an x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) by efficiently correcting nonlinearity of the bunch-compression system. In this method, a second-order positive energy chirp is imprinted to the electron bunch by a correction cavity installed at the beginning of the system, namely the nonlinearity is initially overcorrected. The imprinted chirp is enhanced in a compression process at a bunch compressor due to electron bunch rotation in longitudinal phase space, and then continuously corrects the second-order nonlinearity induced in the following sections. Since the frequency and field amplitude of the correction cavity can be significantly lowered to the available technology level, this method enables the use of a high-frequency accelerator, i.e., a high-gradient accelerator, which is indispensable to realize a compact XFEL facility.

Longitudinal phase space characterization of the blow-out regime of rf photoinjector operation

Using an experimental scheme based on a vertically deflecting rf deflector and a horizontally dispersing dipole, we characterize the longitudinal phase space of the beam in the blow-out regime at the UCLA Pegasus rf photoinjector. Because of the achievement of unprecedented resolution both in time (50 fs) and energy (1.0 keV), we are able to demonstrate some important properties of the beams created in this regime such as extremely low longitudinal emittance, large temporal energy chirp, and the degrading effects of the cathode image charge in the longitudinal phase space which eventually leads to poorer beam quality. All of these results have been found in good agreement with simulations.

X-band rf structure with integrated alignment monitors

We present the electrical design for an $X$-band traveling wave accelerator structure with integrated alignment monitors to measure the transverse wake, which will be used as part of the PSI-XFEL project and in the CLIC structure testing program. At PSI, it will compensate nonlinearities in the longitudinal phase space at the injector prototype of the PSI-XFEL. At CLIC it will be tested for breakdown limits and rates in the high gradient regime. The prolonged operation of such a structure in the PSI-XFEL injector, albeit not for the CLIC parameter regime, will constitute a good quality test of the manufacturing procedures employed. The operation in the PSI-XFEL injector will be at a relatively modest beam energy of 250 MeV, at which transverse wakes can easily destroy the beam emittance. For this reason, the layout chosen employs a large iris, $5\ensuremath{\pi}/6$ phase advance geometry, which minimizes transverse wakefield effects while still retaining a good efficiency. As a second important feature, the design includes two wakefield monitors coupling to the transverse higher order modes, which allow steering the beam to the structure axis, potentially facilitating a higher precision than mechanical alignment strategies. Of special interest is the time domain envelope of these monitor signals. Local offsets due to bends or tilts have individual signatures in the frequency spectrum, which in turn are correlated with different delays in the signal envelope. By taking advantage of this combined with the single bunch mode at the PSI-XFEL, the use of a relatively simple detector-type rf front end should be possible, which will not only show beam offsets but also higher order misalignments such as tilts in the structure. The resolution of these monitors is determined by the tolerance of the random cell-to-cell misalignment leading to a spurious signal in the monitors.

1D theory of laser plasma wake

In this paper, we get the 1D approximate analytical solution of the plasma electrostatic wake driven by the laser, and get the modified oscillating frequency of this wake. Finally we analyze the longitudinal beam dynamics in this electrostatic wake, and find that the high order terms don't change the topology of the longitudinal phase space.

RF photo-injector beam energy distribution studies by slicing technique

The SPARC photo-injector is an R & D facility dedicated to the production of high brightness electron beams for radiation generation via FEL or Thomson scattering processes. It is the prototype injector for the recently approved SPARX project, aiming at the construction in the Frascati/University of Rome Tor Vergata area of a new high brightness electron linac for the generation of SASE-FEL radiation in the 1–10 nm wavelength range. The first phase of the SPARC project has been dedicated to the e-beam source characterization; the beam transverse and longitudinal parameters at the exit of the gun have been measured, and the photo-injector settings optimized to achieve best performance. Several beam dynamics topics have been experimentally studied in this first phase of operation, as, for example, the effect of photocathode driver laser beam shaping and the evolution of the beam transverse emittance. These studies have been made possible by the use of a novel diagnostic tool, the “ emittance-meter” which enables the measurement of the transverse beam parameters at different positions along the propagation axis in the very interesting region at the exit of the RF gun. The new idea of extending the e-meter capabilities came out more recently. Information on the beam longitudinal phase space and correlations with the transverse planes can be retrieved by the slicing technique. In this paper, we illustrate the basic concept of the measurement together with simulations that theoretically validate the methodology. Some preliminary results are discussed and explained with the aid of code simulations.

BEAM DYNAMICS OPTIMIZATION FOR THE XFEL PHOTO INJECTOR

The main challenge for the European XFEL photo injector is the production of 1 nC electron beams with a normalized transverse emittance of 0.9 mm mrad. The photo injector setup consists of a 1.5-cell L-band rf gun cavity supplied with solenoids for beam focusing and emittance compensation and the first accelerating section with 8 TESLA superconducting cavities. The first 4 cavities are used as a booster to provide by proper choice of its position, gradient and phase matching conditions for the emittance conservation. For optimization of the beam dynamics in the photo injector, a staged algorithm, based on ASTRA simulations, has been developed. The first stage considers the emission of electrons from a photo cathode. The cathode laser energy and its transverse parameters are adjusted to produce a bunch charge of 1 nC in presence of space charge forces (including image charge at the cathode) and Schottky-like effects. The second stage contains rf gun cavity and solenoid optimization. The booster position, gradient and initial phase are optimized at the third stage yielding the minimum emittance at the photo injector exit. Results of the XFEL photo injector optimization will be presented. Besides simulations experimental studies towards XFEL photo injector are carried out. The photo injector test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) develops photo injectors for FELs, including FLASH and the European XFEL. A thorough comparison of measured data with results of beam dynamics simulations is one of the main PITZ goals. Detailed experimental studies on photo emission processes, thermal emittance, transverse and longitudinal phase space of the electron beam are being performed together with beam dynamics simulations. This aims to result in better understanding of beam dynamics in high brightness photo injectors. Experimentally obtained photo injector characteristics (like thermal emittance) have to be used in an additional optimization of the photo injector resulting in more realistic beam dynamics simulations. Results of these studies will be reported as well.

Time-dependent phase-space characterization of intense charged particle beams

Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of a charged particle beam bunch is essential for understanding its evolution and for initializing computer simulations, especially when space charge is involved. This paper presents a novel experimental method for time-sliced mapping of the transverse phase space of a space-charge dominated beam based on tomographic principles. The combination of a high precision tomographic diagnostic with fast imaging screens and a gated camera are used to produce phase-space maps of two beams: one with a parabolic current profile and another with a short perturbation atop a rectangular pulse. The correlations between longitudinal and transverse phase spaces are apparent and their impact on the dynamics is discussed.

Laser Ion Acceleration and Its Medical Application

Approach to downsize an accelerator for particle-cancer therapy with the use of a very high acceleration-gradient by laser-plasma interaction has been performed combining laser-produced ions with a conventional RF acceleration technique. Protons produced by a high peak-power (∼a few tens TW) short-pulse (<50 fs) laser from a thin solid foil target several μm in thickness has been improved in its beam chracteristics by combination of a “Phase Rotation” and electron beam cooling in order to be accelerated with a short-rising-time (∼5 ms) synchrotron to the energy of ∼200 MeV needed for cancer-therapy. In the present paper, the scheme to improve the characteristics of the laser-produced protons in the longitudinal phase space by “Phase Rotation”, which has been demonstrated in its feasibility experimentally, is described together with the procedure of laser proton production.

Source-to-target simulation of simultaneous longitudinal and transverse focusing of heavy ion beams

Longitudinal bunching factors in excess of 70 of a 300-keV, 27-mA ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$ ion beam have been demonstrated in the neutralized drift compression experiment [P. K. Roy et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 234801 (2005)] in rough agreement with particle-in-cell source-to-target simulations. A key aspect of these experiments is that a preformed plasma provides charge neutralization of the ion beam in the last one meter drift region where the beam perveance becomes large. The simulations utilize the measured ion source temperature, diode voltage, and induction-bunching-module voltage waveforms in order to determine the initial beam longitudinal phase space which is critical to accurate modeling of the longitudinal compression. To enable simultaneous longitudinal and transverse compression, numerical simulations were used in the design of the solenoidal focusing system that compensated for the impact of the applied velocity tilt on the transverse phase space of the beam. Complete source-to-target simulations, that include detailed modeling of the diode, magnetic transport, induction bunching module, and plasma neutralized transport, were critical to understanding the interplay between the various accelerator components in the experiment. Here, we compare simulation results with the experiment and discuss the contributions to longitudinal and transverse emittance that limit the final compression.

Global Minimization of Longitudinal Emittance in RF Linac Structures

Relativistic electron bunches in linear accelerators are characterized by 6-D phase spaces. In most linear accelerators, the longitudinal phase space distribution does not interact significantly with the transverse distributions. This assumption allows the use of a 2-D design model of the longitudinal phase space. In this paper a global convergent parameter optimization is proposed to achieve an optimal bunch compression design with respect to an exact bunch energy, peak current and a vanishing skewness in the current profile, minimizing the longitudinal emittance by using a genetic algorithm and sequential quadratic programming hybrid formulation to find an optimal bunch.

Generation and Measurement of Relativistic Electron Bunches Characterized by a Linearly Ramped Current Profile

We report the first successful attempt to generate ultrashort (1-10 ps) relativistic electron bunches characterized by a ramped longitudinal current profile that rises linearly from head to tail and then falls sharply to zero. Bunches with this type of longitudinal shape may be applied to plasma-based accelerator schemes as an optimized drive beam, and to free-electron lasers as a means of reducing asymmetry in microbunching due to slippage. The scheme used to generate the ramped bunches employs an anisochronous dogleg beam line with nonlinear correction elements to compress a beam having an initial positive time-energy chirp. The beam current profile is measured using a deflecting mode cavity, and a pseudoreconstruction of the beam's longitudinal phase space distribution is obtained by using this diagnostic with a residual horizontal dispersion after the dogleg.

A two-frequency RF cavity for the PSI-XFEL: Design and beam dynamics simulations

In the frame of conceptual studies for a compact (less than 6 GeV) X-ray FEL at PSI, we report here on the design and beam dynamics simulations of a two-cell two-frequency RF gun-like cavity. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and the RF flexibility of such a cavity for manipulating the longitudinal phase space while preserving the initial low transverse emittance. Shaping the longitudinal phase space is mandatory for efficient velocity bunching at an early stage of the accelerator. The cavity, located after the gap of a 500-kV to 1-MV diode, is dimensioned to operate at 1.5 and 4.5 GHz. The RF design of the two-cell cavity and the coupling schemes for both frequencies are presented. Mode separation, which ensures adequate operation, is achieved by profiling the cavity walls. The flexibility of such a design to shape the longitudinal phase space is illustrated with beam dynamics simulations. The transverse emittance is shown to be nearly unchanged by combining emittance compensation and a beam matching scheme. The deleterious effects of the transverse RF fields are consequently reduced to a minimum.

Dynamically self-optimized beam distributions at the UCLA Pegasus laboratory: Linearity of transverse and longitudinal phase spaces

In this paper we present preliminary experimental results of the recently proposed idea to generate ideal uniformly filled ellipsoidal beam distributions in an rf photoinjector by cathode illumination with a very short laser pulse (∼35 fs rms) and subsequent expansion under the beam's own space-charge forces. The great interest for uniformly filled ellipsoidal beam shapes derives from the electromagnetic fields associated with such charge distributions, which depend linearly on the bunch coordinates, thus allowing a perfectly linear, emittance-growth free transport. At the UCLA Pegasus laboratory, where the experiment was performed, we used an X-band deflecting cavity as an electron streak camera to visualize directly on a fluorescent screen the longitudinal beam profiles and verify the space-charge-dominated beam expansion. The transverse quality of the bunch was then characterized by a pepper-pot technique, yielding emittance values close to the thermal limits. The measured phase spaces, both transverse (reconstructed from the emittance measurement) and longitudinal (directly measured using the deflecting cavity on a dispersion screen), are also presented.