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.

Development of Mini-LIA and Primary Experiments

Mini-LIA is a miniature of a linear induction accelerator developed by China Academy of Engineering Physics and Tsinghua University in 2007. It has been constructed with a thermionic cathode in an electron injector and a metglas core in the induction accelerator cavities. A double-pulsed electron beam was produced for the first time in China on the Mini-LIA with a thermionic cathode in the electron gun and a metglas core in the induction accelerator cavities. A double-pulsed beam current of more than 1.1 A was obtained on condition of 80 k V double-pulsed high voltage produced by pulsed power system supplying to the injector and accelerating modules. Some primary experiments for measuring the parameters of Mini-LIA has been performed, and some beam characterizations of Mini-LIA are presented. Further improvement is underway.

High power THz source based on coherent radiation of picosecond relativistic electron bunch train

Tunable and compact high power terahertz (THz) radiation based on coherent radiation (CR) of the picosecond relativistic electron bunch train is under development at the Tsinghua accelerator lab. Coherent synchronization radiation (CSR) and coherent transition radiation (CTR) are researched based on an S-band compact electron linac, a bending magnet or a thin foil. The bunch train's form factors, which are the key factor of THz radiation, are analyzed by the PARMELA simulation. The effects of electron bunch trains under different conditions, such as the bunch number, bunch charges, micro-pulses inter-distance, and accelerating gradient of the gun are investigated separately in this paper. The optimal radiated THz power and spectra should take these factors as a whole into account.

^(234)Th/^(238)U disequilibrium and particulate organic carbon export in the northwestern South China Sea

234Th was utilized as a tracer of particulate organic carbon （POC） export in the northwestern South China Sea （SCS） on the basis of the data collected at four stations during a spring cruise. Depth profiles of dissolved and particulate 234Th activities were measured in the upper 60m, showing a significant deficit relative to 23Su over the investigated stations. A stratified structure of 234Th-23su disequilibrium was in general observed in the upper 60 m water column, indicating that the euphotic zone of the northwestern SCS in this reason can be divided into two layers, an upper and lower layer, with different export rates. POC export fluxes were estimated from a one-dimensional steady state model of 234Th fluxes in combination with the measurement of POC/234Th ratios on suspended particles. The POC export in this region ranged from 8.2 to 20.0 mmol/（m2.d）, with an average of 16.0 mmol/（m2-d）, and was slightly higher than those previously reported in the southern SCS.

An accelerated direct demodulation method for image reconstruction using spherical data from the hard X-ray modulation telescope

The hard X-ray modulation telescope （HXMT） mission is mainly devoted to performing an all-sky survey at 1- 250 keV with both high sensitivity and high spatial resolution. The observed data reduction as well as the image reconstruction for HXMT can be achieved by using the direct demodulation method （DDM）. However the original DDM is too computationally expensive for multi-dimensional data with high resolution to be employed for HXMT data. We propose an accelerated direct demodulation method especially adapted for data from HXMT. Simulations are also presented to demonstrate this method.

Dose estimation and shielding calculation for X-ray hazard at high intensity laser facilities

An ionizing radiation hazard produced from the interaction between high intensity lasers and solid targets has been observed. Laser-plasma interactions create “hot” electrons, which generate bremsstrahlung X-rays when they interact with ions in the target. However, up to now only limited studies have been conducted on this laser-induced radiological protection issue. In this paper, the physical process and characteristics of the interaction between high intensity lasers and solid targets are analyzed. The parameters of the radiation sources are discussed,including the energy conversion efficiency from laser to hot electrons, hot electron energy spectrum and electron temperature, and the bremsstrahlung X-ray energy spectrum produced by hot electrons. Based on this information,the X-ray dose generated with high-Z targets for laser intensities between 10^14 and 10^20W/cm^2 is estimated. The shielding effects of common shielding items such as the glass view port, aluminum chamber wall and concrete wall are also studied using the FLUKA Monte Carlo code. This study provides a reference for the dose estimation and the shielding design of high intensity laser facilities.

Design of an MeV ultra-fast electron diffraction experiment at Tsinghua university

Time-resolved MeV ultra-fast electron diffraction (UED) is a powerful tool for structure dynamics studies. In this paper, we present a design of a MeV UED facility based on a photocathode RF gun at Tsinghua University. Electron beam qualities are optimized with numerical simulations, indicating that resolutions of 250 fs and 0.01 , and bunch charge exceeding 105 electrons are expected with technically achievable machine parameters. Status of experiment preparation is also presented.

Design of the beam transport line and injection system of the compact storage ring for TTX

In this article, we present the design of the beam transport line and injection system of the compact storage ring for the Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray (TTX) source. The layout of the beam transport line fits in with the limited available space. The injection system is simplified, consisting of only one single kicker; the stray field on the reference orbit is also reduced without the septum magnet. We choose a travelling wave kicker and present both 2D and 3D simulations for the structure design.

Design and experiments for the waveguide to coaxial cable adapter of a cavity beam position monitor

The waveguide to coaxial cable adapter is very important to the cavity beam position monitor （CBPM） because it determines how much of the energy in the cavity could be coupled outside. In this paper, the waveguide to coaxial cable adapter of a CBPM is designed and experiments are conducted. The curve shapes of experiments and simulations are very similar and the difference in reflection is less than 0.1. This progress provides a reliable method for designing the adapter.

Slice emittance measurement for photocathode RF gun with solenoid scanning and RF deflecting cavity

The radiation of high-gain short-wavelength free-electron laser depends on the slice transverse emittance of the electron bunch. This essay introduces the method of slice emittance measurement, and shows the brief setup of this experiment using the solenoid scanning and RF deflecting cavity at Tsinghua University. The preliminary experimental results show that the slice rms emittance of the electron bunch generated by photocathode RF gun has considerable variations along the bunch and is typically less than 0.55 mm mrad for the laser rms radius of 0.4 mm.

Bunch length measurement at Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray source

The length of electron beam from a photocathode RF gun is determined by a spectrometer, according to the relative energy spread induced by the bunch length during the acceleration in a linac. For a photocathode RF gun, different laser injected phase and beam charge are studied. The compression is changed for the different laser phases, as from 10 ° to 30 ° , and the bunch length is lengthened due to the strong longitudinal space charge force, caused by the increased charge.

Ultra-low emittance X-band photocathode RF gun

In this paper, we present the simulation results of a 1.6 cell X-band photocathode RF gun for ultra-low emittance electron beams. It will work at 9.3 GHz. The emittance, bunch length, electron energy and energy spread at the gun exit are optimized at bunch charge of 1pC using PARMELA. Electron bunches with emittance about 0.1 mm·mrad and bunch length less than 100 fs can be obtained from this gun. A PITZ type coupler is adopted in this gun and an initial simulation by MAFIA is also given in this paper.

A new method to generate relativistic comb bunches with tunable subpicosecond spacing

We propose and analyze a scheme to produce comb bunches, i.e. a bunch consisting of micro-bunch trains, with tunable subpicosecond spacing. In the scheme, the electron beam is first deflected by a deflecting cavity which introduces a longitudinal-dependent linear transverse kick to the particles. After passing through a drift space, the transverse beam size is linearly coupled to the longitudinal position of the particle inside the beam, and a mask is placed there to tailor the beam, then the mask distribution is imprinted on the beam＇s longitudinal distribution. A quadrupole magnet and another deflecting cavity are used in the beam line to compensate the transverse angle due to the first deflecting cavity. Analysis shows that the number, length, and spacing of the trains can be controlled through the parameters of the deflecting cavity and the mask. Such electron bunch trains can be applied to an infrared free electron laser, a plasma-wakefield accelerator and a supper-radiance THz source.