Seminars Archive

High Brightness Beam-Based FEL Initiatives at UCLA

Abstract
In this talk, we discuss two initiatives that seek to enable new generations of FEL light sources that rely on unprecedented brightness in the electron beam, as well as new methods in the enabling technologies of FELS: undulators and electron sources. The first is the development of a next generation electron photocathode RF gun based on cryogenic operation of copper. This program, performed collaboratively with SLAC researchers, aims to push the launch field of the electron beam to 250 MV/m, thus enabling a predicted increase in brightness by a factor of 20. This development has strong implications for new FELs such as LCLS II. Beyond the next generation of FEL, UCLA research is concentrated on the realization of few-100 micron period undulators. These micro-undulators are fabricated using MEMS techniques, and enable short wavelength FELs with (again) very high brightness, low charge, and relatively low energy electron beams. These beams are focused to very high density using MEMS-fabricated micro-quadrupoles, resulting in impressively large space charge effects. Indeed, a new regime is accessed — the soft X-ray Raman FEL. Progress in a Keck-funded program to develop this new “table-top FEL” scenario at UCLA is reviewed.