Characteristics of terahertz coherent transition radiation generated from picosecond ultrashort electron bunches

This paper presents a method of generating terahertz （THz） coherent transition radiation （CTR） from picosecond ultrashort electron bunches including single and train bunches, which are produced by a photocathode radio frequency gun. The radiation characteristics of THz CTR including formation factor and energy spectrum are analysed in detail. With the help of a 2-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, the radiation characteristics including power, energy and magnetic field are analysed. The results show that the radiation frequency can be adjusted by tuning the repetition frequency of the train bunch and the energy can be enhanced with the train bunches.

Terahertz coherent transition radiation based on an ultrashort electron bunching beam

The experimental result of terahertz （THz） coherent transition radiation generated from an ultrashort electron bunching beam is reported. During this experiment, the window for THz transmission from ultrahigh vacuum to free air is tested. The compact measurement system which can simultaneously test the THz wave power and frequency is built and proofed. With the help of improved Martin-Puplett interferometer and Kramers-Krong transform, the longitudinal bunch length is measured. The results show that the peak power of THz radiation wave is more than 80 kW, and its radiation frequency is from 0.1 THz to 1.5 THz.

Development of readout electronics for bunch arrival-time monitor system at SXFEL

A bunch arrival-time monitor(BAM) system,based on electro-optical intensity modulation scheme, is under study at Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser.The aim of the study is to achieve high-precision time measurement for minimizing bunch fluctuations. A readout electronics is developed to fulfill the requirements of the BAM system. The readout electronics is mainly composed of a signal conditioning circuit, field-programmable gate array(FPGA), mezzanine card(FMC150), and powerful FPGA carrier board. The signal conditioning circuit converts the laser pulses into electrical pulse signals using a photodiode. Thereafter, it performs splitting and low-noise amplification to achieve the best voltage sampling performance of the dual-channel analog-to-digital converter(ADC) in FMC150. The FMC150 ADC daughter card includes a 14-bit 250 Msps dual-channel high-speed ADC,a clock configuration, and a management module. The powerful FPGA carrier board is a commercial high-performance Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA evaluation board. To achieve clock and data alignment for ADC data capture at a high sampling rate, we used ISERDES, IDELAY, and dedicated carry-in resources in the Kintex-7 FPGA. This paper presents a detailed development of the readout electronics in the BAM system and its performance.

Sub-picosecond electron bunch length measurement using coherent transition radiation at SXFEL

Longitudinal electron bunch length plays a significant role in single-pass free-electron lasers(FEL), as the high-gain FEL process depends strongly on the high peak current of electron bunches. Longitudinal electron bunch length was measured by detecting the interferogram of coherent transition radiation generated by electron bunches using a THz interferometer and a Golay cell(spectral range0.02-20 THz) at Shanghai X-ray free-electron laser. The detailed process of measurement and data analysis are discussed herein. Furthermore, the electron bunch length was estimated based on the dispersive strength R_(56) of the bunch compressor and the energy spread δ of electron bunches, which were obtained via experiments. The comparison showed that the measured bunch length was consistent with the estimated bunch length.

Electron Acceleration and Bunch Generation by Intense Femtosecond Laser Pulse in Preplasma of a Target

We present analytical studies of electron acceleration in the low-density preplasma of a thin solid target byan intense femtosecond laser pulse.Electrons in the preplasma are trapped and accelerated by the ponderomotive forceas well as the wake field.Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that when the laser pulse is stopped by thetarget,electrons trapped in the laser pules can be extracted and move forward inertially.The energetic electron bunchin the bubble is unaffected by the reflected pulse and passes through the target with small energy spread and emittance.There is an optimal preplasma density for the generation of the monoenergetic electron bunch if a laser pulse is given.The maximum electron energy is inverse proportion to the preplasma density.

HEPS Achieves the First Electron Beam Accelerated to 500 MeV

The first electron beam of the High Energy Photon Source(HEPS)was accelerated to 500 MeV with better than 2.5 nC of bunch charge by the Linear accelerator(Linac)on March 14,which was a key milestone of the HEPS project–HEPS beam commissioning has since begun.The HEPS Linac,with a total length of about 49 m,is an S-band normal conducting electron linear accelerator with a very high bunch charge and a large bunch charge range.As the source and first-stage accelerator of electrons,the Linac mainly comprises an electron gun,a bunching system,and a main accelerator.

Electron Acceleration in the Cone-shaped Extra-intense Stationary Laser Field

A technique of electron acceleration in the cone shaped stationary laser field is proposed. An electron acceleration in this laser is studied, which shows that there is no electron bunching but there exists electron capture in this laser field.

Electron self-injection and acceleration in a hollow plasma channel driven by ultrashort intense laser pulses

The self-injection and acceleration of electrons in a hollow plasma channel driven by ultrashort intense laser pulses is investigated by Particle-in-Cell(PIC) simulations. It is shown that electrons from the bubble sheath will be self-injected into the hollow plasma channel and move radially towards the channel border due to the lack of focusing force in the hollow plasma channel. After several reflections near the channel wall by the strong focusing force, a self-injected electron bunch can be confined in the hollow plasma channel and quasi-phase-stably accelerated forward for the whole laser–plasma interaction process. These electrons using optical and plasma-related self-injection method can be self-organized to remain in the rear of the bubble, where the accelerating electric field is transversely uniform and nearly plateau along the propagation axis. Therefore, the self-injected electron bunch can be accelerated in a steady state without obvious oscillation and has a high quality with narrow energy spread and low divergence.

Electron Acceleration During the Mode Transition from Laser Wakefield to Plasma Wakefield Acceleration with a Dense-Plasma Wall

The wake bubble expansion and contraction by adding a dense-plasma wall in the background plasma during the mode transition from laser wakefield to plasma wakefield accel- eration is investigated by particle-in-cell simulations. The electrons are injected continuously into the cavity until the lateral bubble size equals the inner diameter of the wall. The injected electron bunch from the laser wakefield acceleration （LWFA） scheme is quasi phase-stably accel- erated forward because of the longitudinal contraction of the bubble. After the laser pulse is depleted completely, the electron bunch generated from the LWFA scheme drives a plasma wake- field. The electrons remaining in the channel are trapped and accelerated by the plasma wakefield. Ultimately, two energetic electron bunches with a narrow energy spread and low emittance are obtained.

Monoenergetic electron parameters in a spheroid bubble model

A reliable analytical expression for the potential of plasma waves with phase velocities near the speed of light is derived.The presented spheroid cavity model is more consistent than the previous spherical and ellipsoidal models and it explains the mono-energetic electron trajectory more accurately,especially at the relativistic region.The maximum energy of electrons is calculated and it is shown that the maximum energy of the spheroid model is less than that of the spherical model.The electron energy spectrum is also calculated and it is found that the energy distribution ratio of electrons △E/E for the spheroid model under the conditions reported here is half that of the spherical model and it is in good agreement with the experimental value in the same conditions.As a result,the quasi-mono-energetic electron output beam interacting with the laser plasma can be more appropriately described with this model.

Analysis of electro-optical intensity modulator for bunch arrival-time monitor at SXFEL

A bunch arrival-time monitor(BAM) based on an electro-optical intensity modulation scheme is currently under development at Shanghai Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser to meet the high-resolution requirements for bunch stability. The BAM uses a radio frequency signal generated by a pickup cavity to modulate the reference laser pulses in an electro-optical intensity modulator(EOM), and the bunch arrival-time information is derived from the amplitude change of the laser pulse after laser pulse modulation.EOM is a key optical component in the BAM system.Through the basic principle analysis of BAM, many parameters of the EOM are observed to affect the measurement resolution of the BAM system. Therefore, a systematic analysis of the EOM is crucial. In this paper, we present two schemes to compare and analyze an EOM and provide a reference for selecting a new version of the EOM.

Long-distance characterization of high-quality laser-wakefield-accelerated electron beams

Beam quality degradation during the transition from a laser wakefield accelerator to the vacuum is one of the reasons that cause the beam transport distortion, which hinders the way to compact free-electron-lasers. Here,we performed transition simulation to initialize the beam parameters for beam optics transport. This initialization was crucial in matching the experimental results and the designed evolution of the beamline. We experimentally characterized properties of high-quality laser-wakefield-accelerated electron beams, such as transverse beam profile, divergence, and directionality after long-distance transport. By installing magnetic quadrupole lenses with tailored strength gradients, we successfully collimated the electron beams with tunable energies from 200 to 600 MeV.

利用渡越辐射研究超热电子束的传输特性

为了探索超热电子束的传输特性,利用光学CCD相机在靶背法线方向测量了光学渡越辐射积分成像图案。实验在100 TW掺钛蓝宝石激光器上进行,飞秒激光与固体靶作用后,靶表面发光信号由空间分辨装置聚焦成像并引到CCD狭缝上。在厚度为20μm的Ta靶背表面观测到渡越辐射光斑呈现较平滑的圆形结构,而且中心亮度高于周围,这包含了非相干与相干渡越辐射的成分,与理论模拟结果接近;在厚度为100μm的Ta靶背表面观测到渡越辐射光斑呈现出星状结构,光斑较小,与高能质子发射出现的星状结构极其相似;在复合靶背表面观测到渡越辐射光斑虽然也呈现大致的圆形结构,但光斑较大,而且极不均匀,中间有很明显的光斑分裂。

回旋管双阳极磁控注入电子枪的设计

根据回旋管对电子枪的要求，设计了该双阳极磁控注入电子枪。给出了电极形状、电子轨迹与电子注参量。这种电子枪具有速度零散小、层流性较好、体积小等特点。

单阳极磁控注入电子枪的设计

该单阳极磁控注入电子枪是为 8mm永磁包装回旋振荡管设计的。首先利用绝热理论和角动量守恒理论进行了初始的电极参数设计 ,其次讨论和选取数值计算方法 ,然后利用自编的程序进行数值计算和优化 ,同时讨论了空间电荷的影响和速度零散的改善 ,最终得到最佳的电极和电子注参数。该电子枪已经应用于制管实验中。

太赫兹频段一维介质光子晶体中的史密斯-帕塞尔辐射特性模拟

基于Smith-Purcell(SP)效应,采用粒子模拟的方法探讨了电子束团激发一维介质光子晶体中的SP辐射特性.模拟研究了单个束团激发一维介质圆柱光子晶体产生的SP辐射现象,并对周期束团激发的THz频段的相干SP辐射进行了模拟分析.研究表明,提高介质的相对介电常数和增加光子晶体的层数都可使辐射强度增加,选择合适的参数能够有效地增强THz频段的相干SP辐射强度.

超导加速器CW模式的高阶模初步分析

超导加速器由于具有极高的Q值,因此表现出较强的腔束相互作用,尤其是在以CW模式运行下,严重时会产生束流崩溃(BBU)效应。德国TESLA式的9 cell超导串腔在束流负载为1 mA,束团重复频率为81 25 MHz情况下,对其高阶模的产生及相应的功率水平进行了分析。结果表明:对于该腔的主要高阶模,谐振偏差值在π/4以上,束流没有发生谐振,高阶模功率在mW量级。

用电光采样法测量相对论电子束团长度

介绍了电光采样法测量电子束束团长度的实验原理和装置,理论分析并模拟计算了被测电子束团库仑场分布、ZnTe晶体的电光效应与束团电场的关系,并利用琼斯矩阵法分析了探测光通过电光晶体时在束团电场作用下的偏振变化、测量信号与束团长度的关系等。分析表明:测量中应使束团库仑场垂直于ZnTe的[001]方向,探测光偏振方向与ZnTe晶体y″轴成45°或者135°夹角,1/4波片快轴与探测光偏振方向夹角应取45°,这时平衡探测器输出信号与束团库仑场Eb成正比。1/4波片的作用是将电光晶体的工作点从非线性段移到线性段,平衡探测的作用是简化信号与Eb的关系,并提高信噪比。为实际测量应用提供参考。

基于史密斯-帕赛尔效应的太赫兹振荡器的原理与特性分析

提出了一种基于史密斯-帕赛尔效应的太赫兹振荡器,该器件由电子枪、调制腔、输出腔、收集极等部分构成。在器件调制腔中,电子注的速度调制通过史密斯-帕赛尔效应完成的,当群聚电子注通过输出腔时,群聚电子注会在输出腔的间隙处激励起高频电场,该高频电场会使电子注的一部分动能转换为高频能量,并完成太赫兹振荡.模拟发现:当金属光栅的空间周期为0.6mm、电子注能量为100keV时,利用史密斯-帕赛尔效应调制的太赫兹振荡器可以输出频率为349.017GHz和346.324GHz、功率谱密度接近4kW/GHz、最大输出峰值功率超过2kW的太赫兹波.

倍频谐波回旋行波放大器的研究

通过研究倍频谐波回旋行波放大器中电子束在调制区和漂移区中的群聚与在辐射区中的辐射，给出了器件各部分的最佳参数；同时在均匀波导管和引导场的情况下，运用低速率比的电子束获得了宽带输出。当电子束的电压为１３０ｋＶ、电流为２０Ａ、速率比为０．８以及纵向速度散度为１％时，模拟得到器件的饱和带宽至少可达到１０％，峰值功率和增益分别为２９０ｋＷ和５０ｄＢ，常数驱动带宽约9%。