Engineering topics

Zholents, Alexander

Publications and source records attributed to Zholents, Alexander.

9 records

DOE OSTI2022

Benchmarking collective effects of electron interactions in a wiggler with OPAL-FEL

OPAL-FEL is a recently developed tool for the modeling of particle accelerators containing wigglers or undulators. It extends the well established 3D electrostatic particle-tracking code OPAL, by merging it with the finite-difference time-domain electromagnetic solver MITHRA. We present results of two benchmark cases where OPAL-FEL simulations are compared to experimental results. Both experiments concern electron beamlines where the longitudinal phase space is modulated with a short magnetic wiggler. Good agreement was found in both the space charge and radiation dominated regimes.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2022

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.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Controllable X-ray Pulse Trains from Enhanced Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission

We report the demonstration of optical compression of an electron beam and the production of controllable trains of femtosecond, soft x-ray pulses with the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) freeelectron laser (FEL). This is achieved by enhanced self-amplified spontaneous emission with a 2 μm laser and a dechirper device. Optical compression was achieved by modulating the energy of an electron beam with the laser and then compressing with a chicane, resulting in high current spikes on the beam which we observe to lase. A dechirper was then used to selectively control the lasing region of the electron beam. Field autocorrelation measurements indicate a train of pulses, and we find that the number of pulses within the train can be controlled (from 1 to 5 pulses) by varying the dechirper position and undulator taper. These results are a step toward attosecond spectroscopy with x-ray FELs as well as future FEL schemes relying on optical compression of an electron beam.

Duris, Joseph P↗

DOE OSTI2020

Start-to-End Simulation of the Drive-Beam Longitudinal Dynamics for Beam-Driven Wakefield Acceleration

Collinear beam-driven wakefield acceleration (WFA) relies on shaped driver beam to provide higher accelerating gradient at a smaller cost and physical footprint. This acceleration scheme is currently envisioned to accelerate electron beams capable of driving free-electron laser *. Start-to-end simulation of drive-bunch beam dynamics is crucial for the evaluation of the design of accelerators built upon WFA. We report the start-to-end longitudinal beam dynamics simulations of an accelerator beamline capable of producing high charge drive beam. The generated wakefield when it passes through a corrugated waveguide results in a transformer ratio of 5. This paper especially discusses the challenges and criteria associated with the generation of temporally-shaped driver beam, including the beam formation in the photoinjector, and the influence of energy chirp control on beam transport stability.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Experimental demonstration of enhanced self-amplified spontaneous emission by photocathode temporal shaping and self-compression in a magnetic wiggler

In this paper we demonstrate experimentally the generation of attosecond soft X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses based on a novel approach to enhanced self-amplfied spontaneous emission. Instead of utilizing an external laser, we shape the electron beam at the cathode by laser pulse stacking. We enhance the high-current spike in the beam profile through a self-compression process which uses short-range coherent synchrotron radiation in a wiggler and a downstream magnetic chicane. The undulator taper is then matched with the energy chirp along the beam for attosecond XFEL generation. Start-to-end simulations are performed to demonstrate the proposed method. The measured spectra suggest that a ~250 as pulse duration is achieved at ~940 eV in the experiment.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Tunable isolated attosecond X-ray pulses with gigawatt peak power from a free-electron laser

The quantum-mechanical motion of electrons in molecules and solids occurs on the sub-femtosecond timescale. Consequently, the study of ultrafast electronic phenomena requires the generation of laser pulses shorter than 1 fs and of sufficient intensity to interact with their target with high probability. Probing these dynamics with atomic-site specificity requires the extension of sub-femtosecond pulses to the soft X-ray spectral region. Here, we report the generation of isolated soft X-ray attosecond pulses with an X-ray free-electron laser. Our source has a pulse energy that is millions of times larger than any other source of isolated attosecond pulses in the soft X-ray spectral region, with a peak power exceeding 100 GW. This unique combination of high intensity, high photon energy and short pulse duration enables the investigation of electron dynamics with X-ray nonlinear spectroscopy and single-particle imaging, unlocking a path towards a new era of attosecond science.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2019

Phase-stable self-modulation of an electron-beam in a magnetic wiggler

Electron-beams with a sinusoidal energy modulation have the potential to emit sub-femtosecond x-ray pulses in a free-electron laser. The energy modulation can be generated by overlapping a powerful infrared laser with an electron-beam in a magnetic wiggler. Here we report on a new infrared source for this modulation, coherent radiation from the electron-beam itself. In this self-modulation process, the current spike on the tail of the electron-beam radiates coherently at the resonant wavelength of the wiggler, producing a six-period carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) stable infrared field with gigawatt power. This field creates a few MeV, phase-stable modulation in the electron-beam core. The modulated electron-beam is immediately useful for generating sub-femtosecond x-ray pulses at any machine repetition rate, and the CEP-stable infrared field may find application as an experimental pump or timing diagnostic.

wiggler↗

DOE OSTI2019

Passive method for controlling and correcting energy correlations in charged particle beams

A technique for controlling and compensating the energy spread of a charged particle beam is provided. This technique is based on a passive dielectric-loaded structure that redistributes the energy within the bunch by means of the wakefield generated in the structure. Cylindrical and planar structure configurations are provided and also means for electrical and mechanical tuning to optimize performance. The instant abstract is neither intended to define the invention disclosed in this specification nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Simpson, James↗

DOE OSTI2019

Longitudinal-Phase-Space Manipulation for Efficient Beam-Driven Structure Wakefield Acceleration

Collinear beam-driven structure wakefield acceleration (SWFA) is an advanced acceleration technique that could support the compact generation of high-energy beams for future multi-user x-ray free-electron-laser facilities*. Producing an ideal shaped drive beam through phase space manipulation is crucial for an efficient SWFA. Controlling the final longitudinal-phase space of the drive beam necessitate staged beam manipulations during acceleration. This paper describes the preliminary design of an accelerator beamline capable of producing drive beam with tailored current distribution and longitudinal-phase-space correlation. The proposed design is based on simple analytical models combined in a 1-D longitudinal beam-dynamics simulation tracking program supporting forward and backward (time reversal) tracking.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗