Engineering topics
Murokh, Alex
Publications and source records attributed to Murokh, Alex.
Fast, Accurate Simulations for Free-Electron Laser Oscillators
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Towards higher frequencies in a compact prebunched waveguide THz-FEL
Free-electron-lasers fill a critical gap in the space of THz-sources as they can reach high average and peak powers with spectral tunability. Using a waveguide in a THz FEL significantly increases the coupling between the relativistic electrons and electromagnetic field enabling large amounts of radiation to be generated in a single passage of electrons through the undulator. In addition to transversely confining the radiation, the dispersive properties of the waveguide critically affect the velocity and slippage of the radiation pulse which determine the central frequency and bandwidth of the generated radiation. In this paper, we characterize the spectral properties of a compact waveguide THz FEL including simultaneous lasing at two different frequencies and demonstrating tuning of the radiation wavelength in the high frequency branch by varying the beam energy and ensuring that the electrons injected into the undulator are prebunched on the scale of the resonant radiation wavelength.
Hard X-ray inverse Compton scattering at photon energy of 87.5 keV
Abstract Production of hard X-ray via inverse Compton scattering at photon energies below 100 keV range aimed at potential applications in medicine and material research is reported. Experiments have been performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Accelerator Test Facility, employing the counter collision of a 70 MeV, 0.3 nC electron beam with a near infra-red Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm wavelength) pulse containing ~ 100 mJ in a single shot basis. The radiation distribution of the scattered photon beam is assessed to be sufficiently quasi monochromatic to produce clear contrast from the Au K - edge at 80.7 keV.
FAST Low-Energy Beamline Studies: Toward High-Peak 5D Brightness Beams for FAST-GREENS
The FAST beamline is the injector for the planned Gamma-Ray Electron ENhanced Source (GREENS) program, which aims to achieve the demonstration and first application of a high-efficiency, high-average-power free-electron laser at 515 nm. FAST-GREENS requires high 5D peak brightness; transverse normalized projected emittances of 3 mm-mrad and a peak current of 600 A are the minimum beam requirements for the FEL to reach the 10% efficiency goal. In this work, studies of the low-energy section of the FAST beamline are presented toward these ends, including preliminary measurements of beam compression and beam emittance. An effort toward developing a high-fidelity simulation model that could be later optimized for FAST-GREENS is presented.
Topical Group on Application and Industry Community Engagement Frontier Snowmass 2021 (Summary Report)
HEP community leads and operates cutting-edge experiments for the DOE Office of Science which have challenging sensing, data processing, and computing requirements that far surpass typical industrial applications. To make necessary progress in the energy, material, and fundamental sciences, development of novel technologies is often required to enable these advanced detector and accelerator programs. Our capabilities include efficient co-design, which is a prerequisite to enable the deployment of advanced techniques in a scientific setting where development spans from rapid prototyping to robust and reliable production scale. This applies across the design spectrum from the low level fabrication techniques to the high level software development. It underpins the requirement for a holistic approach of innovation that accelerates the cycle of technology development and deployment. The challenges set by the next generation of experiments requires a collaborative approach between academia, industry and national labs. Just a single stakeholder will be unable to deliver the technologies required for the success of the scientific goals. Tools and techniques developed for High Energy Physics (HEP) research can accelerate scientific discovery more broadly across DOE Office of Science and other federal initiatives and also benefit industry applications.
FAST-GREENS: A High Efficiency Free Electron Laser Driven by Superconducting RF Accelerator
In this paper we’ll describe the FAST-GREENS experimental program where a 4 m-long strongly tapered helical undulator with a seeded prebuncher is used in the high gain TESSA regime to convert a significant fraction (up to 10 %) of energy from the 240 MeV electron beam from the FAST linac to coherent 515 nm radiation. We’ll also discuss the longer term plans for the setup where by embedding the undulator in an optical cavity matched with the high repetition rate from the superconducting accelerator (3,9 MHz), a very high average power laser source can be obtained. Eventually, the laser pulses can be redirected onto the relativistic electrons to generate by inverse compton scattering a very high flux of circularly polarized gamma rays for polarized positron production.
Pulse Length Monitor for Breakdown Diagnostics in THz and Mm-Wave Accelerators
The development of novel high-gradient accelerating structures operating at THz frequencies is critical for future free-electron lasers and TeV scale linear colliders. To reach high energies with reasonable length requires high accelerating gradients of ~100 MV/m. The main limitation to reaching these high-energy gradients is the vacuum RF breakdown phenomenon, which disrupts normal accelerator operations. For stable operations and to understand the breakdown microscopic dynamics, a new device capable of detecting the breakdown occurrences is required. In this paper, we provide the design of a pulse length monitor based on an analog to digital converter for fast signal digitization without the need to use high-speed digitizers to be used in a commercial mm-wave heterodyne spectrometer.
Acceleration of heavy ions in inverse free electron laser
In conventional linear accelerators, the beam is accelerated with a synchronous harmonic of the radio frequency field where the electric field component is collinear with the beam direction. This approach requires the design of complex accelerating structures, especially for low-energy heavy ions. If the beam motion were sustainably coupled to transverse electromagnetic fields, this could significantly simplify the accelerating structure design, and even allow acceleration with free-space waves. However, despite the long history of the proposed concept for accelerating low-velocity ion beams, it has not found practical application, partially because of the complexity of the technical design. In this paper, we present a practical design approach for this undulator-based accelerator for low-energy heavy-ions, reminiscent of the inverse free electron laser operating principle, but in a different parameter space.
Optical Spectrometer With a Pulse-to-Pulse Resolution for Terahertz and mm-Wave Signals
The development of ultra-compact particle accelerators and accelerator-based high-power THz generators are some of the top priorities for research and development programs around the world. These tools require the development of accelerating structures, operating in the mm-Wave and THz range, where diagnostics are not available or are insufficient. This article presents the design of a pulse-to-pulse THz spectrometer, primarily developed for diagnostics of accelerating structures and THz radiation sources. In particular, this spectrometer can be used to detect RF pulse shortening caused by vacuum breakdown and beam misalignment in THz accelerators, as well as for bunch length monitoring and radiation source diagnostics. The spectrometer is based on a diffraction grating and is capable of covering a frequency range where RF-based breakdown measurements are not possible. We have built and tested the first prototype with different sources in a frequency range of 0.1-1.0 THz. In this article, we present the physical design, supported numerical simulations, electronics development, and test results.
Sub-MeV ultra-compact linac for radioactive isotope sources replacement, non-destructive testing, security and medical applications
RadiaBeam Technologies, LLC has developed an inexpensive, hand-portable 180 keV electron accelerator to replace 57 Co radionuclide sources in Cascade Header Enrichment Monitor detectors. We used two innovative technologies in our design: a Ku-band (1 cm wavelength) magnetron, and a split accelerating structure design to reduce manufacturing costs. In this paper, we will discuss the accelerator, including X-ray convertor and accelerating structure design. The results of RF measurements of a Ku-band split structure prototype will also be reviewed. Other applications of Ku-band linacs include compact backscatter and transmission X-ray security inspection systems, as well as computed tomography (CT) systems for luggage and parcel screening. The main requirement for luggage inspection systems is that the X-ray source must be extremely compact. Further, the required energies should cover the range from 180 keV to 1 MeV. In this paper, we will discuss the linac’s energy scalability and other modifications that will enable our technology to address these applications.
Single Electrons Emission Diagnostics (SEED)
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Study of Fluctuations in Undulator Radiation in the IOTA Ring at Fermilab
We study turn-by-turn fluctuations in the number of emitted photons in an undulator, installed in the IOTA electron storage ring at Fermilab with an InGaAs PIN photodiode and an integrating circuit. Our study was motivated by the previous experiment *. We propose a theoretical model for the experimental data from * and in our own experiment we attempted to verify the model in an independent and more systematic way. Moreover, these fluctuations are an interesting subject for a study by itself, since they act as a seed for SASE in FELs. We improve the precision of the measurements from * by subtracting the average signal amplitude using a comb filter with a one-turn IOTA delay, and by using a special algorithm for noise subtraction. We obtain a reasonable agreement between our theoretical model and experiment. Along with repeating the experiment from *, which was performed at a constant beam current, we also collect data for fluctuations in undulator light at different beam current values. Lastly, in our experiment we were able to see the transition from Poisson statistics to Super-Poisson statistics for undulator light, whereas in * only the latter statistics was observed.
Experimental Study of a Single Electron in a Storage Ring via Undulator Radiation
A single electron orbiting around a ring and emitting single quanta at the rate of about one event per hundred turns could produce a wealth of information about physical processes in large traps (i.e. storage rings) for charged particles. It should be noted that Paul and Penning traps in the 1980s led to the Nobel prize for studying state and motion of single quantum particles, and just recently the Penning trap technique has enabled the measurement of a single proton magnetic moment with an unprecedented precision of 10 decimal places. The information from the storage ring traps could also be used for characterization of a quantum system as well as the "trap" itself, i.e. measuring properties of the storage ring lattice and electron interaction with the laser fields. Although, the interest in single electron quantum processes today is mostly academic in nature, the diagnostics and methodology developed for single electron radiation studies could find subsequent applications in a variety of applied disciplines in quantum technology, including quantum communications and quantum computing.
Novel High Duty Cycle FFAG Betatron for Radiological Source Replacement
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