Microwave axial free-electron laser with enhanced phase stability

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-9002(95)01370-9· OSTI ID:238814

Carlsten, B; Fazio, M; Haynes, W ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); and others

Free-electron laser (FEL) amplifiers have demonstrated high efficiencies and high output power at microwave wavelengths. However, measurements and simulations have indicated that the present level of phase stability for these devices is not sufficient for driving linear accelerators. Fluctuations in the diode voltage, which is needed to accelerate the electron beam, are the largest cause of the shifts in the phase of the output power. Pulse-power technology cannot keep the voltage fluctuations less than 1/4%. However, we have found a scheme that will make the output phase much less sensitive to these fluctuations by exploiting the traveling wave nature of the FEL interaction. In this paper we study the phase stability issue by analyzing the dispersion relation for an axial FEL, in which the rf field is transversely wiggled and the electron trajectories are purely longitudinal. The advantage of using the axial FEL interaction instead of the common transverse FEL interaction is that (1) the dispersion relation is not additionally complicated by how the transverse electron motion depends on the diode voltage and (2) such a device is simpler and less expensive to construct than a transverse-coupling FEL because there is no wiggler. The axial FEL interaction is with a fast wave and does involve axial bunching of the electron beam, so the results found for this device also apply to transverse-coupling FELs. By examination of the dispersion relation it is found that the effect of the phase dependency on the beam`s velocity can be cancelled by the effect of the phase dependency on the beam`s plasma wave, for an annular electron beam. By changing the annulus radius, exact cancellation can be found for a variety of beam voltages and currents in the ranges of 0.5-1.0 MV and 1-5 kA. This cancellation leads to first-order phase stability, which is not possible for standing-wave devices, such as klystrons.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
• OSTI ID: 238814
• Report Number(s): BNL--61982-Absts.; CONF-9508156--Absts.; ON: DE96002729
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
DISPERSION RELATIONS
FREE ELECTRON LASERS
MICROWAVE RADIATION
PHASE STABILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION