Injection system for microtron-based terehertz FEL

A reliable injection system of the widely tunable microtron-based terahertz Free Electron Laser (FEL) has been developed and during last few years provides stable operation of the FEL for users. The system is based on the long-life thermionic cathode assembly using 2.5 mm-in diameter monocrystalline LaB6 emitter, heated by the tungsten cylindrical filament with the power consumption less than 55 W. The cathode emits the macro-pulse current in the range of 1-1.4 A providing operation of the terahertz FEL during more than 1000 h. The cathode assembly is installed on the cover of the I-type microtron accelerating cavity in location providing an efficient injection for the acceleration with variable number of orbits. This variation widely changes the energy of the electron beam and allows on-the-fly retuning of the FEL in the range of 1-3 THz. Pulse-signal system stabilizing the emission current prevents randomized break-downs in the accelerating cavity and decreases fluctuations of the power of the FEL radiation. The standard deviation of the fluctuations was measured to be less than 10% during long-time operation