Bunch compression for an FEL at NLCTA

Technical Report · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/666173· OSTI ID:666173

Zimmermann, F

As part of the design effort for a free electron laser driven by the Next Linear Collider Test Accelerator (NLCTA), the author reports studies of bunch-length compression utilizing the existing infrastructure and hardware. In one possible version of the NLCTA FEL, bunches with 900-{micro}m FWHM length, generated by an S-band photo-injector, would be compressed to an rms length of 60--120 {micro}m before entering the FEL undulator. It is shown that, using the present magnetic chicane, the bunch compression is essentially straightforward, and that almost all emittance-diluting effects, e.g. wakefields, chromaticity, or space charge in the bending magnets, are small. The only exception to this finding is the predicted increase of the horizontal emittance due to coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR). Estimates based on existing theories of coherent synchrotron radiation suggest a tripling or quadrupling of the initial emittance, which seems to preclude bunch compression during regular FEL operation. Serendipitously, the magnitude of the predicted emittance growth would, on the other hand, make the NLCTA chicane an excellent tool for measuring the effects of coherent synchrotron radiation. This will be of considerable interest to many future projects, in particular to the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). As an aside, it is shown that coherent synchrotron radiation in a bending magnet gives rise to a minimum possible bunch length, which is very reminiscent of the Oide limit on the vertical spot size at the interaction point of a linear collider.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ., Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 666173
• Report Number(s): SLAC-PUB--7458; ON: DE98059104
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATORS
BENDING
COMPRESSION
DESIGN
FREE ELECTRON LASERS
LIGHT SOURCES
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
LINEAR COLLIDERS
MAGNETS
SPACE CHARGE
SYNCHROTRON RADIATION