Picosecond pulses of coherent MM-wave radiation in a photoinjector-driven waveguide free-selected laser

A 5 MeV, high repetition rate (2.142 GHz in burst mode), high brightness, tabletop photoinjector is currently under construction at the UC Davis Department of Applied Science, on the LLNL site. Ultrashort pulses of coherent synchrotron radiation can be generated by transversally accelerating the electron beam with a wiggler in either metallic or dielectric-loaded waveguide FEL structures. This interaction is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Subpicosecond photoelectron bunches will be produced in the photoinjector by irradiating a high quantum efficiency Cs2Te (Cesium Telluride) photocathode with a train of 100 UV (210 nm), ultra-short (250 fs) laser pulses. These bunches will be accelerated in a 1-1/2 cell π-mode X-band RF gun e energized by a 20 MW, 8,568 GHz SLAC klystron. The peak current is 0.25 kA (0.25 nC, 1 ps), with a normalized beam emittance εn<2.5 π mm-mrad. This prebunched electron beam is then transversally accelerated in a cylindrical waveguide by a 30-mm period, 10 period long helical wiggler. The peak wiggler field is adjusted to 8.5 kG, so that the group velocity of the radiated electromagnetic waves matches the axial velocity of the electron bunch (grazing condition, zero slippage). Chirped output pulses in excess of 2 MW power are predicted, with an instantaneous bandwidth extending from 125 GHz to 225 GHz and a pulse duration of 15 ps (HWHM). To produce even shorter pulses, a dielectric-loaded waveguide can be used. The dispersion relation of this waveguide structure has an inflection point (zero group velocity dispersion). If the grazing condition is satisfied at this point, the final output pulse duration is no longer determined by slippage, or by group velocity dispersion and bandwidth, but by higher-order dispersive effects yielding transform-limited pulses