Transverse Resistive Wall Instability in the Two-Beam Accelerator

The transverse resistive wall instability in the Two-Beam Accelerator (TBA) is investigated analytically and numerically. Without any damping mechanism, we find one to four e-folds in 100 m, depending on the design. It is found that Landau damping, due to energy spread within a beam slice, is not effective, due to rapid synchrotron oscillations in the FEL ponderomotive well. Damping due to an energy sweep along the beam is also considered and it is found that a small variation in energy along the beam, decreasing from head to tail, can significantly reduce growth. We conclude that the resistive wall instability is not a severe design constraint on a TBA

Radio-Frequency Beam Conditioner for Fast-Wave Free-Electron Generators of Coherent Radiation

A method for conditioning electron beams is proposed, making use of the TM{sub 210} mode of microwave cavities, to reduce the axial velocity spread within the beam, in order to enhance gain in resonant electron beam devices, such as the free-electron laser (FEL). Effectively, a conditioner removes the restriction on beam emittance. The conditioner is analyzed using a simple model for beam transport and ideal RF cavities. Analysis of an FEL is employed to evaluate performance with reduced axial velocity spread. Examples of FELs are presented showing the distinct advantage of conditioning

Standing-Wave Free-Electron Laser Two-Beam Accelerator

A free-electron laser (FEL) two-beam accelerator (TBA) is proposed, in which the FEL interaction takes place in a series of drive cavities, rather than in a waveguide. Each drive cavity is 'beat-coupled' to a section of the accelerating structure. This standing-wave TBA is investigated theoretically and numerically, with analyses included of microwave extraction, growth of the FEL signal through saturation, equilibrium longitudinal beam dynamics following saturation, and sensitivity of the microwave amplitude and phase to errors in current and energy. It is found that phase errors due to current jitter are substantially reduced from previous versions of the TBA. Analytic scalings and numerical simulations are used to obtain an illustrative TBA parameter set

Theory of the Ion-Channel Laser

A relativistic electron beam propagating through a plasma in the ion-focussed regime exhibits an electromagnetic instability with peak growth rate near a resonant frequency {omega}{approximately}2 {gamma}{sup 2} {omega}{beta}, where {gamma} is the Lorentz factor and {omega}{beta} is the betatron frequency. The physical basis for this instability is that an ensemble of relativistic simple harmonic oscillators, weakly driven by an electromagnetic wave, will lose energy to the wave through axial bunching. This bunching'' corresponds to the development of an rf component in the beam current, and a coherent centroid oscillation. The subject of this thesis is the theory of a laser capitalizing on this electromagnetic instability. A historical perspective is offered. The basic features of relativistic electron beam propagation in the ion-focussed regime are reviewed. The ion-channel laser (ICL) instability is explored theoretically through an eikonal formalism, analgous to the KMR'' formalism for the free-electron laser (FEL). The dispersion relation is derived, and the dependence of growth rate on three key parameters is explored. Finite temperature effects are assessed. From this work it is found that the typical gain length for amplification is longer than the Rayleigh length and we go on to consider three mechanisms which will tend to guide waveguide. First, we consider the effect of the ion channel as a dielectric waveguide. We consider next the use of a conducting waveguide, appropriate for a microwave amplifier. Finally, we examine a form of optical guiding'' analgous to that found in the FEL. The eikonal formalism is used to model numerically the instability through and beyond saturation. Results are compared with the numerical simulation of the full equations of motion, and with the analytic scalings. The analytical requirement on detuning spread is confirmed