Towards one machine, two purposes: using a common SC linac for XFEL and ERL simultaneously

The linac based XFEL and ERL are advanced (or, say, 4th generation) light sources, with different electron beam parameters and different advantages. However, the linac used for XFEL and ERL should provide very advanced beams with high energy, high peak and/or average current, very low emittance and low energy spread, thus making the linac very complicated and expensive. To share the XFEL and ERL advantages and save the construction-operation budget, a proposal of using a common superconducting electron linac for hard X-ray XFEL and ERL is described in this paper. The interactions between the XFEL and ERL beams via the accelerating structure are studied and the result is positive.     

An accelerator scenario for a hard X-ray free electron laser combined with high energy electron radiography

In order to study the dynamic response of the material and the physical mechanism of fluid dynamics,an accelerator scenario which can be applied to both hard X-ray free electron laser and high energy electron radiography is proposed.This accelerator is mainly composed of a 12 GeV linac,an undulator branch and an eRad beamline.In order to characterize a sample's dynamic behavior in situ and real-time with XFEL and eRad simultaneously,the linac should be capable of accelerating the two kinds of beam within the same operation mode.Combining in-vacuum and tapering techniques,the undulator branch can produce more than 1011 photons per pulse in 0.1%bandwidth at42 keV.Finally,an eRad amplifying beamline with 1:10 ratio is proposed as an important complementary tool for the wider view field and density identification ability.     

基于能量回收技术的光源——ERL光源

能量回收技术将使用后的电子束进行能量回收,用于加速后续束团,可大大减少加速器消耗的射频功率和有害辐射。基于能量回收技术的光源除节能环保外,还具有束团短、发射度低的特点,可有效提高光源的峰值亮度和相干性,是一种很有潜力的未来先进光源。介绍能量回收直线加速器技术的基本原理、相关关键物理问题和技术以及能量回收直线加速器发展现状,最后简要介绍几个国际上提出的典型能量回收直线加速器光源方案。     

A compact warm ring for industrial applications

The ultrafast, high brightness X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) sources of the future have the potential to revolutionize the study of time-dependent phenomena in the natural sciences. These linear accelerator (linac) sources will generate femtosecond (fs) X-ray pulses with peak flux comparable to conventional lasers, and far exceeding all other X-ray sources. The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has pioneered the development of linac science and technology for decades, and since 2000 SLAC and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) have focused on the development of linac based ultrafast electron and X-ray sources.     

Constructions and Preliminary HV Conditioning of a Photocathode Direct-Current Electron Gun at IHEP

As one of the most important key technologies for future advanced light source based on the energy recovery linac, a photocathode dc electron gun is supported by Institute of High Energy Physics(IHEP) to address the technical challenges of producing very low emittance beams at high average current. Construction of the dc gun is completed and a preliminary high voltage conditioning is carried out up to 440 kV. The design,construction and preliminary HV conditioning results for the dc gun are described.     

Design study on the merger for BXERL-FEL

In North China, there is a preliminary proposal for ERL-FEL light source (BXERL-FEL) with its aim at "one machine, two purposes" (the XFEL and ERL work simultaneously). One of the key technologies is the merger section. In this paper, we give the physical design of the merger section for BXERL-FEL which merges three kinds of electron beam.     

New linear accelerator （Linac） design based on C-band accelerating structures for SXFEL facility

A C-band accelerator structure is one promising technique for a compact XFEL facility. It is also attractive in beam dynamics in maintaining a high quality electron beam, which is an important factor in the performance of a free electron laser. In this paper, a comparison between traditional S-band and C-band accelerating structures is made based on the linac configuration of a Shanghai Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser (SXFEL) facility. Throughout the comprehensive simulation, we conclude that the C-band structure is much more competitive.     

Great progress in developing 500 MHz single cell superconducting cavity in China

Superconducting cavities have been adopted in many kinds of accelerator facilities such as synchrotron radiation light source, hard X-ray free electron laser linac, colliders and energy recovery linacs (ERL). The 500 MHz superconducting cavities will be a candidate to be installed in the high current accelerators and high current ERLs for their large beam aperture, low higher order modes impedance and high current threshold value. This paper presents great progress in the whole sequence of developing 500 MHz superconducting cavity in China. It describes the first in-house successful development of 500 MHz single cell superconducting cavity including the deep-drawing of niobium half cells, electron beam wielding of cavity, surface preparations and vertical testing. The highest accelerating gradient of the fabricated cavity #SCD-02 higher than 10 MV/m was obtained while the quality factor was better than 4×10⁸ at 4.2 K, which has reached the world level of the same kind of cavities.     

Design study on the merger for BXERL-FEL

In North China, there is a preliminary proposal for ERL-FEL light source （BXERL-FEL） with its aim at ＂one machine, two purposes＂ （the XFEL and ERL work simultaneously）. One of the key technologies is the merger section. In this paper, we give the physical design of the merger section for BXERL-FEL which merges three kinds of electron beam.     

Recent Advancements of Undulator Technologies

Insertion devices—or more specifically, undulators—play a crucial role in actually producing intense light from a high-energy electron beam in synchrotron radiation (SR) and X-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facilities. Their function is quite simple; i.e., to let the electrons move periodically. Even so, there are many different concepts of undulators, and thus, technologies to realize these concepts are quite diverse. There are a variety of requirements dictated by the experimental users of SR and XFEL, mainly in terms of the polarization and wavelength of radiation. In addition, the specifications of undulators should meet these requirements under the given boundary conditions, such as the minimum operational gap, electron energy, and available area for installation. However, necessity is the mother of invention; undulator technologies and concepts have continuously advanced year by year to meet users' demands.     

光阴极注入器型能量回收射频加速器

 光阴极注入器型能量回收射频加速器（PERL）是新一代加速器，在高平均功率自由电子激光和下一代高亮度光源等研究中有很好的应用前景。分析了PERL的强流与高平均功率特性，对注入器输出束流品质的要求及光阴极注入器、超导加速腔等关键技术进行了研究，设计分析了一种特殊结构的高压DC Gun光阴极注入器，能有效地提高DC加速腔中的加速场强，当高压为1MV和加速场达到10MV/m时，产生的电子束流能够基本满足PERL应用要求。同一超导加速段中的束流加速和能量回收的数值模拟计算结果表明，能获得高效率电子束流能量回收效果。     

Monitoring the energy variation of an electron linac using a Cerenkov detector

A new method to monitor the energy variation of a multi-energy electron linac by combining a Cerenkov detector and a CsI(Tl) detector is reported. The signals in the Cerenkov detector show an appreciable but different dependence on the energy of the electron linac from the traditional CsI(T1) detector due to the particular response of the former to charged electrons with high velocity above threshold. The method is more convenient than the HVL (half-value layer) method which is commonly employed to calibrate the energy of an electron linac for real time monitoring. The preliminary validity of the method is verified in a dual-energy electron linac with 6 MeV and 3 MeV gears. Moreover, the method combining the Cerenkov detector and the CsI(Tl) detector is applicable to probe the X-ray spectrum hardened by the inspected material and may serve as a novel tool for material discrimination with effective atomic number in radiation imaging.     

Expected thermal deformation and wavefront preservation of a cryogenic Si monochromator for Cornell ERL beamlines

Cornell energy‐recovery linac (ERL) beamlines will have higher power density and higher fractional coherence than those available at third‐generation sources; therefore the capability of a monochromator for ERL beamlines has to be studied. A cryogenic Si monochromator is considered in this paper because the perfect atomic structure of Si crystal is needed to deliver highly coherent radiation. Since neither the total heat load nor the power density alone can determine the severity of crystal deformation, a metric called modified linear power density is used to gauge the thermal deformation. For all ERL undulator beamlines, crystal thermal deformation profiles are simulated using the finite‐element analysis tool ANSYS, and wavefront propagations are simulated using Synchrotron Radiation Workshop. It is concluded that cryogenic Si monochromators will be suitable for ERL beamlines in general.     

Beam stability investigation for a free electron lithographic laser based on an energy-recovery linac

According to leading producers of microelectronic devices, lithography based on free electron lasers (FEL) could become the main technology for the mass production of elements with a scale up to 5 nm in the near future. One of the main hindrances in this path is the absence of working FEL with the required parameters. A feasibility study devoted to the production of such an FEL based on a superconducting energyrecovery linac (ERL) has been carried out at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP). The ERL average current is limited by longitudinal and transverse instabilities, caused by the interaction of an electron beam with the fields induced by it in the superconducting cavities. The estimations of the threshold currents and parameters of the ERL required for the operation of FEL are obtained.     

Monitoring the energy variation of an electron linac using a Cerenkov detector

A new method to monitor the energy variation of a multi-energy electron linac by combining a Cerenkov detector and a CsI（Tl） detector is reported. The signals in the Cerenkov detector show an appreciable but different dependence on the energy of the electron linac from the traditional CsI（Tl） detector due to the particular response of the former to charged electrons with high velocity above threshold. The method is more convenient than the HVL （half-value layer） method which is commonly employed to calibrate the energy of an electron linac for real time monitoring. The preliminary validity of the method is verified in a dual-energy electron linac with 6 MeV and 3 MeV gears. Moreover, the method combining the Cerenkov detector and the CsI（Tl） detector is applicable to probe the X-ray spectrum hardened by the inspected material and may serve as a novel tool for material discrimination with effective atomic number in radiation imaging.     

Polarization control of an X‐ray free‐electron laser with a diamond phase retarder

A diamond phase retarder was applied to control the polarization states of a hard X‐ray free‐electron laser (XFEL) in the photon energy range 5–20 keV. The horizontal polarization of the XFEL beam generated from the planar undulators of the SPring‐8 Angstrom Compact Free‐Electron Laser (SACLA) was converted into vertical or circular polarization of either helicity by adjusting the angular offset of the diamond crystal from the exact Bragg condition. Using a 1.5 mm‐thick crystal, a high degree of circular polarization, 97%, was obtained for 11.56 keV monochromatic X‐rays, whereas the degree of vertical polarization was 67%, both of which agreed with the estimations including the energy bandwidth of the Si 111 beamline monochromator.     

Study on the characteristics of linac based THz light source

There are many methods based on linac for THz radiation production.As one of the options for the Beijing Advanced Light, an ERL test facility is proposed for THz radiation.In this test facility, there are 4 kinds of methods to produce THz radiation: coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR), synchrotron radiation (SR), low gain FEL oscillator, and high gain SASE FEL.In this paper, we study the characteristics of the 4 kinds of THz light sources.     

An intense terahertz radiation source at the Compact ERL

The Compact ERL is an energy recovery LINAC (ERL) test facility that is planned for KEK. The circumference of the recirculation path will be 70 m. Initially, the beam energy will be about 65 MeV and the current about 10 mA. Although the primary purpose of the machine is to aid the development of the key technologies that are essential for building an ultra-brilliant new synchrotron light source based on an ERL, the Compact ERL itself has great potential as an intense source of terahertz radiation. To generate the intense terahertz radiation, an electron bunch of a very short bunch length is required and bunch compression is inevitable. We discuss the parameters of the Compact ERL, present the results of a simulation of bunch compression, and make an estimate of the generated coherent synchrotron radiation.     

用于远红外FEL的直线加速器物理模拟计算

波长在２００μｍ附近的自由电子激光对电子束品质有特别要求，不仅要求较长的束流微脉冲，而且对流强、能散度以及束流参数对加速器噪声的稳定性等都有很高的要求。我们采用ＰＡＲＭＥＬＡ程序，对一台由１０８ＭＨｚ分频预聚束器、９腔１３００ＭＨｚ聚束加速段和９腔１３００ＭＨｚ加速段组成的加速器进行了大量模拟计算，得到了满足ＦＥＬ要求的物理设计方案和对加速器各部件稳定性的要求指标。     

高能所光阴极驱动激光系统研制

能量回收型直线加速器(ERL)可能提供低发射度、高平均流强的连续电子束团,其电子枪的光阴极需要高重复频率、高平均功率的驱动激光系统。采用先进的光纤激光技术,特别是在激光系统中采用了掺镱光子晶体增益光纤,能实现高重复频率高平均功率激光输出。利用啁啾脉冲放大(CPA)技术,通过优化设计,将重复频率100 MHz和1.3 GHz的两套激光振荡源集成到同一个激光系统,整个激光系统的结构简化,使用方便。两种重复频率激光倍频效率分别达到50%和30%,绿光能达到5 W以上,满足光阴极实验平台的使用要求。