UMD/NPS Free Electron Laser Research
Abstract
Simulations and theoretical analysis are used to study the development of high-average-power free electron lasers (FELs). Various existing and proposed FELs are studied, in both amplifier and oscillator configurations. Comparisons to experimental results show good agreement in each case. At the outset of this project, short Rayleigh length (SRL) optical cavities were proposed to reduce the optical intensity on the mirrors. Contrary to conventional wisdom, our simulations showed that an SRL FEL would have good gain and power extraction. This was recently confirmed experimentally at Jefferson Laboratory. System sensitivity to misalignments and distortions are also studied, and tolerance limits are established for tilts and shift of various components such as the mirrors, electron beam, and magnetic quadrupoles. These tolerances have already been readily achieved in laboratories using active alignment. The research done over 8 years on this project has resulted in 19 published papers, 21 M.S. theses, 2 Ph.D. dissertations, and 26 conference presentations, which are summarized in this report.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA491957
Entities
People
- Joseph Blau
- William B. Colson
Organizations
- University of Maryland