Design and performance of a far infrared,free-electron laser

Abstract

The free-electron laser (FEL) is a device that is capable of high peak and average power, with broad tunability, and with a time structure that can be as short as one picosecond. In the far infrared (λ = 100 ? 1000μm) portion of the spectrum the energy of the electron beam is not too high, there are few alternative bright sources, and there are a variety of interesting applications. Thus, the far infrared (FIR) is a likely region for the development of a table-top FEL that would be a useful laboratory instrument. In this paper the design of a FIR FEL is presented, and its performance characteristics are evaluated.