Thermionic RF Gun Research Articles

Microbunching of thermionic cathode rf gun beams in the Advanced Photon Source s-band linac

We report on measurements of beams from thermionic cathode (TC) rf guns in the Advanced Photon Source S-Band Linac. These measurements include the macropulse out of both new and existing TC guns as well as the observation of microbunching within the micropulses of these beams. A gun chopper limits the macropulse FWHM duration to the 10-ns range. Our objectives were to analyse the new TC gun and investigate microbunching within a TC-rf-gun-generated beam. Our diagnostics elucidated longitudinal beam structures from the ns to the fs time scales. Coherent transition radiation (CTR) interferometers responding to far-infrared wavelengths were employed after each compression stage to provide the autocorrelations of the sub-ps micropulse durations. The first compression stage is an alpha magnet and the second a chicane. A CCD camera was used to image the beam via optical transition radiation from an Al screen at the end of the linac and also employed to measure coherent optical transition radiation (COTR) in the visible range. The COTR diagnostic observations, implying microbunching on a fs time scale, are presented and compared with a longitudinal space-charge impedance model.

Recent Operational Experience with Thermionic RF Guns at the APS

Recent Operational Experience with Thermionic RF Guns at the APS

Microwave thermionic electron gun for synchrotron light sources

Thermionic RF guns are the source of electrons used in many practical applications, such as drivers for synchrotron light sources, preferred for their compactness and efficiency. RadiaBeam Systems has developed a new thermionic RF gun for the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, which would offer substantial improvements in reliable operations with robust interface between the thermionic cathode and the cavity, as well as better RF performance, compared to existing models. This improvement became possible by incorporating new pi-mode electromagnetic design, robust cavity back plate design, and a cooling system that will allow stable operation for up to 1 A of beam current and 100 Hz rep rate at 3.0 μs RF pulse length, and 70 MV/m peak on axis field in the cavity. In this paper we discuss the electromagnetic and engineering design of the cavity and provide the test results of the new gun.

Influence of the Cathode Material Properties in Reducing the Back-Bombardment Effect in Thermionic RF Gun

The effect of back-bombardment (BB) electrons is considered one of the main obstacles for extensive use of thermionic RF guns (T-RF). The 10 hexaboride materials named (Ca, Sr, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, and Gd) B6 are investigated in this paper to survey the effect of the cathode material on reducing BB electrons and compare them with LaB6 (which is widely used as a thermionic cathode). A numerical model was used to conduct this paper. Besides the numerical calculations, an experiment has been performed to determine the work functions of CeB6 and LaB6. The results from the numerical calculations revealed that (Ba, Ca, and Nd) B6 are less affected by BB electrons: 42%, 50%, and 59%, respectively, compared with LaB6, for low beam current applications. In contrast, for high beam current duties, (Nd, Ce, and Sm) B6 have minimum influence by BB electrons compared with other hexaborides. The study concluded that BB electrons are strongly affected by the properties of the cathode material, especially thermionic emission and material density. Moreover, the study suggests that it is worthwhile to prepare BaB6, CaB6, NdB6, and SmB6 as cathode materials, then to subject them to a real experimental test using T-RF gun to compare their performance and BB effect against LaB6.

Design and simulation of a LINAC for high energy electron radiography research

We designed an electron linear accelerator (LINAC) for High Energy Electron Radiography (HEER) studies, which consists of two different guns, either a thermionic cathode or a photocathode RF gun, for diagnosing different targets. In this paper, we present the simulation studies and optimization of the LINAC based on an S-band thermionic RF gun. The LINAC is capable of generating sub-picosecond electron pulses with low energy spread (0.13%) and large micro-bunch charge (143 pC). The beam dynamics of the LINAC is studied and optimized by different beam dynamics simulation codes. The entrance hole induced field distortion in the alpha magnet is also reported. The space charge effects are studied by the General Particle Tracer (GPT) code. The results showed that the space charge forces had a significant influence on beam dynamics in such a low energy LINAC.

Interleaving lattice for the Argonne Advanced Photon Source linac

To realize and test advanced accelerator concepts and hardware, a beamline is being reconfigured in the Linac Extension Area (LEA) of APS linac. A photo-cathode RF gun installed at the beginning of the APS linac will provide a low emittance electron beam into the LEA beamline. The thermionic RF gun beam for the APS storage ring, and the photo-cathode RF gun beam for LEA beamline will be accelerated through the linac in an interleaved fashion. In this paper, the design studies for interleaving lattice realization in APS linac is described with initial experiment result

Design, construction and measurements of an alpha magnet as a solution for compact bunch compressor for the electron beam from Thermionic RF Gun

The beam produced by a thermionic RF gun has wide energy spread that makes it unsuitable for direct usage in photon sources. Here in the present work, we optimize the extracted beam from a thermionic RF gun by a compact economical bunch compressor. A compact magnetic bunch compressor (Alpha magnet) is designed and constructed. A comparison between simulation results and experimental measurements shows acceptable conformity. The beam dynamics simulation results show a reduction of the energy spread as well as a compression of length less than 1 ps with 2.3 mm-mrad emittance.

Properties of quarter-wavelength coaxial cavity for triode-type thermionic RF gun

A quarter-wavelength coaxial cavity with a longitudinal radio-frequency power supply was fabricated and tested. The cavity was designed as a pre-buncher for a thermionic triode-type radio-frequency gun of a mid-infrared free electron laser facility. The triode structure was formed to ensure the reduction of the back-bombarding effect, which usually appears in thermionic radio-frequency guns. The coaxial cavity was tested using a tungsten dispenser cathode. From the results of the cold test, a cavity voltage of about 25 kV can be attained, which corresponds to designed characteristics. In contrast, the hot test showed a sudden drop in voltage, resulting in an unstable operation. The small dimensions of the cavity caused some low-field effects, which led to multipactoring. In this paper, we report the tested characteristics of the pre-bunching cavity.

Design study of a low-emittance high-repetition rate thermionic rf gun

We propose a novel gridless continuous-wave radiofrequency (rf) thermionic gun capable of generating nC ns electron bunches with a rms normalized slice emittance close to the thermal level of 0.3 mm mrad. In order to gate the electron emission, an externally heated thermionic cathode is installed into a stripline-loop conductor. Two high-voltage pulses propagating towards each other in the stripline-loop overlap in the cathode region and create a quasielectrostatic field gating the electron emission. The repetition rate of pulses is variable and can reach up to one MHz with modern solid-state pulsers. The stripline attached to a rf gun cavity wall has with the wall a common aperture that allows the electrons to be injected into the rf cavity for further acceleration. Thanks to this innovative gridless design, simulations suggest that the bunch emittance is approximately at the thermal level after the bunch injection into the cavity provided that the geometry of the cathode and aperture are properly designed. Specifically, a concave cathode is adopted to imprint an Ƨ-shaped distribution onto the beam transverse phase-space to compensate for an S-shaped beam distribution created by the spherical aberration of the aperture-cavity region. In order to compensate for the energy spread caused by rf fields of the rf gun cavity, a 3rd harmonic cavity is used. A detailed study of the electrodynamics of the stripline and rf gun cavity as well as the beam optics and bunch dynamics are presented.

New features of the MAX IV thermionic pre-injector

The MAX IV facility in Lund, Sweden consists of two storage rings for production of synchrotron radiation. The smaller 1.5GeV ring is presently under construction, while the larger 3GeV ring is being commissioned. Both rings will be operating with top-up injections from a full-energy injector. During injection, the electron beam is first delivered to the main injector from a thermionic pre-injector which consists of a thermionic RF gun, a chopper system, and an energy filter. In order to reduce losses of high-energy electrons along the injector and in the rings, the electron beam provided by the thermionic pre-injector should have the correct time structure and energy distribution. In this paper, the design of the MAX IV thermionic pre-injector with all its sub components is presented. The electron beam delivered by the pre-injector and its dependence on parameters such as optics, cathode temperature, and RF power are studied. Measurements are here compared with simulation results obtained by particle tracking and electromagnetic codes. The chopper system is described in detail, and different driving schemes that optimize the injection efficiency for the two storage rings are investigated. During operation, it was discovered that the structure of the beam delivered by the gun is affected by mode beating between the accelerating and a low-order mode. This mode beating is also studied in detail. Finally, initial measurements of the electron beam delivered to the 3GeV ring during commissioning are presented.

Electron injector for Iranian Infrared Free Electron Laser

The quality of the electron beam for applications like free electron lasers (FELs) has a direct impact on the quality of the laser radiation. The electron injector considered for Iranian Infrared Free Electron Laser (IRIFEL) includes a thermionic RF electron gun plus a bunch compressor as the electron preinjector and a 50 MeV constant gradient traveling wave linac as the main accelerator of the electron injector. In the present work, a thermionic RF gun is designed and matched with an optimized linac to produce a high quality mono-energetic electron beam. The results show that the preinjector is capable of delivering an electron bunch with 1 ps bunch length and 3 mm-mrad emittance to the linac entrance which is desirable for IRIFEL operation. The results also show that by geometrical manipulation and optimization of the linac structure, the pattern of the RF fields in the linac will be more symmetric, which is important in order to produce high stable mono-energetic bunches.

Investigating higher order modes effects on thermionic RF gun transverse emittance

As the excitation of higher order modes in high gradient accelerating cavities of the RF gun negatively influences electron beam quality, in the present work a theory is obtained based on generalizing Panofsky-Wenzel theorem to study the effect of transverse magnetic modes on transverse emittance growth of the RF gun. Based on this theory, the impact of higher order modes on transverse momentum is investigated. Based on analysis and simulation results, it is shown that different RF modes result in divergence or convergence effects on beam transverse dynamics. The presence of dipole and quadrupole modes can enhance the transverse emittance by ~320% and ~450%, respectively. The compound effect of the presence of two higher order modes results in ~470% transverse emittance growth.

CeB6: Emission Performance and Uniformity Compared With LaB6for Thermionic RF Guns

Thermionic emission performance from single crystals of CeB6 and LaB6 was investigated at different operational loads using a test machine, in order to consider CeB6 as a cathode for thermionic RF guns in the future applications. To evaluate cathode quality and uniformity for long lifetime applications, Miram curves in conjunction with their associated practical work function distribution (PWFD) were applied to the thermionic emission results. The analysis of the PWFD plot revealed that the variation of the peak in the work function and full-width at half-maximum for CeB6 is very close to that of LaB6. This suggests that emission performance, uniformity, and expected operational lifetime of a CeB6 cathode are comparable with LaB6 cathodes. In addition, previous simulation results of the back bombardment (BB) effect on CeB6 and LaB6 emphasized that CeB6 presents less sensitivity to BB electrons compared with LaB6 at a 5.5- $\mu \text{s}$ pulse duration and 8-MW RF power. This gives CeB6 the potential to replace LaB6 as a thermionic cathode for an RF gun. A complete analysis of the cathode emission performance and PWFD at different operational loads for CeB6 prior to a prospective real test is presented.

Electron Back-Bombardment and Mitigation in a Short Gap, Thermionic Cathode RF Gun

When an un-gated thermionic cathode is operated in a radio-frequency gun, some fraction of the emitted electrons will return to the cathode due to the change in sign of the electric field in the gun. This back-bombardment current causes heating of the cathode, and this reduces the ability of the cathode heater to control the bunch charge. In this paper, we investigate the fundamental factors in single-frequency back-bombardment for a short-gap electron gun. Simulations revealed that the back-bombardment power depends strongly on the operating frequency and the bunch charge. Additionally, the use of a two-frequency TM010/TM020 electron gun to mitigate this effect was investigated which revealed that the effectiveness of this technique depends strongly upon single-frequency back-bombardment power but with the optimal reduction in back-bombardment power (62% of the baseline) occurring in the low-frequency limit.

Beam tail effect of a performance-enhanced EC-ITC RF gun

The beam tail effect of multi-bunches will influence the electron beam performance in a high intensity thermionic RF gun. Beam dynamic calculations that illustrate the working states of single beam tail and multi-pulse feed-in of a performance-enhanced EC-ITC (external cathode independent tunable cavity) RF gun for an FEL (free electron laser) injector are performed to estimate the extracted bunch properties. By using both Parmela and homemade MATLAB codes, the effects of a single beam tail as well as interactions of multi-pulses are analyzed, where a ring-based electron algorithm is adopted to calculated RF fields and the space-charge field. Furthermore, the procedure of unexpected deviated-energy particles mixed with an effective bunch head is described by the MATLAB code as well. As a result, the performance-enhanced EC-ITC RF gun is proved to have the capability to extract continual stable bunches suitable for a high requirement THz-FEL.

RF study and 3-D simulations of a side-coupling thermionic RF-gun

A thermionic RF-gun for generating ultra-short electron bunches was optimized, developed and used as a source at a linac-based THz radiation research laboratory of the Plasma and Beam Physics Research Facility, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. The RF-gun is a π/2-mode standing wave structure, which consists of two S-band accelerating cells and a side-coupling cavity. The 2856MHz RF wave is supplied from an S-band klystron to the gun through the waveguide input-port at the cylindrical wall of the second cell. A fraction of the RF power is coupled from the second cell to the first one via a side-coupling cavity. Both the waveguide input-port and the side-coupling cavity lead to an asymmetric geometry of the gun. RF properties and electromagnetic field distributions inside the RF-gun were studied and numerically simulated by using computer codes SUPERFISH 7.19 and CST Microwave Studio 2012©. RF characterizations and tunings of the RF-gun were performed to ensure the reliability of the gun operation. The results from 3D simulations and measurements are compared and discussed in this paper. The influence of asymmetric field distributions inside the RF-gun on the electron beam properties was investigated via 3D beam dynamics simulations. A change in the coupling-plane of the side-coupling cavity is suggested to improve the gun performance.

独立调谐热阴极微波电子枪实验研究

独立调谐热阴极微波电子枪实验研究

独立调谐热阴极微波电子枪电子反轰效应

独立调谐热阴极微波电子枪电子反轰效应

Back bombardment for dispenser and lanthanum hexaboride cathodes

The back bombardment (BB) effect limits wide usage of thermionic rf guns. The BB effect induces not only ramping-up of a cathode's temperature and beam current, but also degradation of cavity voltage and beam energy during a macropulse. This paper presents a comparison of the BB effect for the case of dispenser tungsten-base (DC) and lanthanum hexaboride (${\mathrm{LaB}}_{6}$) thermionic rf gun cathodes. For each, particle simulation codes are used to simulate the BB effect and electron beam dynamics in a thermionic rf gun cathode. A semiempirical equation is also used to investigate the stopping range and deposited heat power of BB electrons in the cathode material. A numerical simulation method is used to calculate the change of the cathode temperature and current density during a single macropulse. This is done by solving two differential equations for the rf gun cavity equivalent circuit and one-dimensional thermal diffusion equation. High electron emission and small beam size are required for generation of a high-brightness electron beam, and so in this work the emission properties of the cathode are taken into account. Simulations of the BB effect show that, for a pulse of $6\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$ duration, the DC cathode experiences a large change in the temperature compared with ${\mathrm{LaB}}_{6}$, and a change in current density 6 times higher. Validation of the simulation results is performed using experimental data for beam current beyond the gun exit. The experimental data is well reproduced using the simulation method.

Test-accelerators as coherent terahertz source program (t-ACTS) at Tohoku University

Abstract The beam from thermionic RF gun is quite suitable for the bunch compression by means of velocity bunching. Since the thermionic gun is very stable in general, we anticipate very short electron pulses of the bunch length around 50 fs can be provided satisfactorily. The t-ACTS program has been developed toward updating terahertz science and technology in which intense coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) from very short electron bunches will be employed. Careful numerical simulation showed possibility of the bunch length of less than 100 fs with a bunch charge of 20 pC, which will provide sufficiently large form factor for production of CSR in the THz wavelength region. The train of short bunches will be stored in an accumulator ring. The peak brilliance of THz radiation emitted from one bunch is expected to be 5×10 6 photons/mrad2/0.1%bandwidth for each bending magnet of the ring.