Terahertz Free Electron Laser: Design, Simulation and Analysis
Abstract
Terahertz (THz) radiation is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with many potential uses but without a wide availability of powerful sources. The free electron laser (FEL) has been demonstrated to produce intense, coherent THz radiation. This dissertation explores a novel THz FEL oscillator design that is tunable within a wavelength range of ~60 micrometers to ~130 micrometers and could produce up to ~2 kW average output power. It utilizes superconducting spoke cavities for the accelerating structures to generate an 8 MeV electron beam with ~8.75mA average current. The variable gap undulator has only 10 periods; this design choice enhances the extraction and therefore output power, but also reduces single pass gain. To overcome the reduced gain, the optical cavity is designed to minimize round trip losses. This design is relatively compact and could be installed on a ship to test technologies that are relevant for future scaling to weapons class output powers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA620854
Entities
People
- Conor M. Pogue
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School