ABSTRACT
The high-average current electron gun low energy electrons from a thermionic cathode at high intensity is the prototype of the drive beam source for the Compact Linear Collider project. The electromagnetic design of the gun was done originally with 2D simulations to minimize the beam emittance for high-current operation (of the order of 8 A) at 140 keV. This paper reports on the first experimental measurements of beam extraction and transport. For the first time, 3D tracking simulations, which take into account precisely the cathode-grid geometry, have been compared with experimental optical transition radiation images of the beam, and we obtained impressive agreement. In addition, we have confirmed that the details of the cathode-grid assembly can impact significantly the beam emittance.
ABSTRACT
Coherent Smith-Purcell radiation is a promising source of coherent emission in the THz domain. Although it has been observed in several experiments, some physical quantities related to the bunching of an initially continuous beam had not yet been studied experimentally. Among them, the gain as function of beam current, together with the value of the start current, needed to be addressed. We report here their measurements in a microwave experiment using a sheet beam. A start current of about 20 A/m was found. Two-dimensional simulations with a very thin beam agree well with our results.
ABSTRACT
An intense beam of relativistic electrons (800 A, 6.7 MeV) has been bunched at 35 GHz by a free-electron laser, in which output power levels exceeding 100 MW were obtained. The beam was then extracted and transported through a resonant cavity, which was excited by its passage. Microwave power levels of 10 MW were extracted from the cavity, in reasonable agreement with the simple formula which relates power to known properties of both the beam and the cavity.
