High-brightness electron beam evolution following laser-based cleaning of a photocathode

Laser-based techniques have been widely used for cleaning metal photocathodes to increase quantum efficiency (QE). However, the impact of laser cleaning on cathode uniformity and thereby on electron beam quality are less understood. We are evaluating whether this technique can be applied to revive photocathodes used for high-brightness electron sources in advanced x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) facilities, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The laser-based cleaning was applied to two separate areas of the current LCLS photocathode on July 4 and July 26, 2011, respectively. The QE was increased by 8–10 times upon the laser cleaning. Since the cleaning, routine operation has exhibited a slow evolution of the QE improvement and comparatively rapid improvement of transverse emittance, with a factor of 3 QE enhancement over five months, and a significant emittance improvement over the initial 2–3 weeks following the cleaning. Currently, the QE of the LCLS photocathode is holding constant at about 1.2×10^{-4}, with a normalized injector emittance of about 0.3  μm for a 150-pC bunch charge. With the proper procedures, the laser-cleaning technique appears to be a viable tool to revive the LCLS photocathode. We present observations and analyses for the QE and emittance evolution in time following the laser-based cleaning of the LCLS photocathode, and comparison to the previous studies, the measured thermal emittance versus the QE and comparison to the theoretical model

Effective Scenario of Loop Quantum Cosmology

Semiclassical states in isotropic loop quantum cosmology are employed to show that the improved dynamics has the correct classical limit. The effective Hamiltonian for the quantum cosmological model with a massless scalar field is thus obtained, which incorporates also the next to leading order quantum corrections. The possibility that the higher order correction terms may lead to significant departure from the leading order effective scenario is revealed. If the semiclassicality of the model is maintained in the large scale limit, there are great possibilities for $k=0$ Friedmann expanding universe to undergo a collapse in the future due to the quantum gravity effect. Thus the quantum bounce and collapse may contribute a cyclic universe in the new scenario.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; version published in PR

Commissioning of the LCLS Linac and Bunch Compressors

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is a SASE x-ray Free-Electron Laser (FEL) project under construction at SLAC [1]. The injector section, from drive-laser and RF photocathode gun through the first bunch compressor, was commissioned in the spring and summer of 2007. The second phase of commissioning, including the second bunch compressor and various main linac modifications, was completed in January through August of 2008. We report here on experience gained during this second phase of machine commissioning, including the injector, the first and second bunch compressor stages, the linac up to 14 GeV, and beam stability measurements. The final commissioning phase, including the undulator and the long transport line from the linac, is set to begin in December 2008, with first light expected in July 2009

Observation of Coherent Optical Transition Radiation in the LCLS Linac

The beam diagnostics in the linac for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray FEL project at SLAC includes optical transition radiation (OTR) screens for measurements of transverse and longitudinal beam properties. We report on observations of coherent light emission from the OTR screens (COTR) at visible wavelengths from the uncompressed and compressed electron beam at various stages in the accelerator

Commissioning of the LCLS LINAC

The Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free electron laser project is currently under construction at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). A new injector and upgrades to the existing accelerator were installed in two phases in 2006 and 2007. We report on the commissioning of the injector, the two new bunch compressors at 250MeV and 4.3 GeV, and transverse and longitudinal beam diagnostics up to the end of the existing linac at 13.6 GeV. The commissioning of the new transfer line from the end of the linac to the undulator is scheduled to start in November 2008 and for the undulator in March 2009 with first light to be expected in July 2009

High-brightness electron beam evolution following laser-based cleaning of a photocathode

Laser-based techniques have been widely used for cleaning metal photocathodes to increase quantum efficiency (QE). However, the impact of laser cleaning on cathode uniformity and thereby on electron beam quality are less understood. We are evaluating whether this technique can be applied to revive photocathodes used for high-brightness electron sources in advanced x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) facilities, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The laser-based cleaning was applied to two separate areas of the current LCLS photocathode on July 4 and July 26, 2011, respectively. The QE was increased by 8–10 times upon the laser cleaning. Since the cleaning, routine operation has exhibited a slow evolution of the QE improvement and comparatively rapid improvement of transverse emittance, with a factor of 3 QE enhancement over five months, and a significant emittance improvement over the initial 2–3 weeks following the cleaning. Currently, the QE of the LCLS photocathode is holding constant at about 1.2×10^{-4}, with a normalized injector emittance of about 0.3  μm for a 150-pC bunch charge. With the proper procedures, the laser-cleaning technique appears to be a viable tool to revive the LCLS photocathode. We present observations and analyses for the QE and emittance evolution in time following the laser-based cleaning of the LCLS photocathode, and comparison to the previous studies, the measured thermal emittance versus the QE and comparison to the theoretical model

Ultraviolet laser transverse profile shaping for improving x-ray free electron laser performance

The photocathode rf gun is one of the most critical components in x-ray free electron lasers. The drive laser strikes the photocathode surface, which emits electrons with properties that depend on the shape of the drive laser. Most free electron lasers use photocathodes with work function in the ultraviolet, a wavelength where direct laser manipulation becomes challenging. In this paper, we present a novel application of a digital micromirror device (DMD) for the 253 nm drive laser at the Linear Coherent Light Source. Laser profile shaping is accomplished through an iterative algorithm that takes into account shaping error and efficiency. Next, we use laser shaping to control the X-ray laser output via an online optimizer, which shows improvement in FEL pulse energy. Lastly, as a preparation for electron beam shaping, we use the DMD to measure the photocathode quantum efficiency across cathode surface with an averaged laser rms spot size of 59  μm. Our experiments demonstrate promising outlook of using DMD to shape ultraviolet lasers for photocathode rf guns with various applications