Beam dynamics performances and applications of a low-energy electron-beam magnetic bunch compressor

Many front-end applications of electron linear accelerators rely on the production of temporally compressed bunches. The shortening of electron bunches is often realized with magnetic bunch compressors located in high-energy sections of accelerators. Magnetic compression is subject to collective effects including space charge and self interaction via coherent synchrotron radiation. In this paper we explore the application of magnetic compression to low-energy (∼40MeV), high-charge (nC) electron bunches with low normalized transverse emittances (<5μm). -- Author-Highlights: • We explore the viability of bunch compression at low energies and high charges. • Simulations for bunch charges ranging from 20-pC to 3.2-nC are presented. • Performed in the context of Fermilab's Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator. • Codes including space charge and coherent synchrotron radiation are benchmarked. • Under-compression and low charges greatly reduced emittance growth