Development of a High Average Current Thermionic Injector for Free-Electron Lasers
Abstract
Thermionic electron guns are capable of operating at high average currents in a variety of vacuum electronic applications, including conventional microwave tubes, but have been replaced by laser photocathode injectors for most free-electron laser (FEL) applications. However, while laser photocathode guns are capable of providing the very high brightness beams required for short wavelength FELs, they provide an increased level of system complexity and do not extrapolate well to injectors for high average current FEL applications. We are developing a 700 MHz injector based on a gridded thermionic electron gun for this application. This paper presents an experimental study, computer simulations, and analysis of the performance of an existing gridded thermionic electron gun as an injector prototype, and a design concept for an improved injector configuration based on these results.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 11, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA584113
Entities
People
- Antonio Ting
- Phillip A. Sprangle
- Steven H. Gold
- Vadim Jabotinski
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory