A key technology issue of energy recovery linac (ERL) devices for high-power free-electron laser (FEL) and fourth generation light sources is the demonstration of reliable, high-brightness, high-power injector operation. Three ongoing programs that target up to 0.5 Ampere photocathode injector performance with required ERL brightness, are described. The first is a DC gun and superconducting RF (SRF) booster cryomodule. Such a 748.5 MHz device is being assembled and will be tested up to 100 mA at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLAB) beginning in 2006. The second approach is a high-current normal-conducting RF (NCRF) injector. A 700 MHz gun will undergo thermal test in late 2005 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which when equipped with a suitable cathode, would be capable of exceeding 0.5 Ampere operation. Finally, a half-cell 703.75 MHz SRF gun with a diamond amplifier and other cathodes, will be tested to 0.5 Ampere at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in 2007. The status and projected performance for each of these injector projects is presented.

A new THz/IR/UV photon source at Jefferson Lab is the first of a new generation of light sources based on an Energy-Recovered, (superconducting) Linac (ERL). The machine has a 160 MeV electron beam and an average current of 10 mA in 75 MHz repetition rate hundred femtosecond bunches.These electron bunches pass through a magnetic chicane and therefore emit synchrotron radiation. For wavelengths longer than the electron bunch the electrons radiate coherently a broadband THz similar to half cycle pulse whose average brightness is > 5 orders of magnitude higher than synchrotron IR sources. Previous measurements showed 20W of average power extracted [Carr, et a]., Nature 420 (2002) 153]. The new facility offers simultaneous synchrotron light from the visible through the FIR along with broadband THz production of 100 fs pulses with > 200W of average power.The FELs also provide record-breaking laser power [Neil, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84 (2000) 6621: up to 10 kW of average power in the IR from 1 to 14 mu m in 400 fs pulses at up to 74.85 MHz repetition rates and soon will produce similar pulses of 300-1000nm light at up to 3 kW of average power from the UV FEL. These ultrashort pulses are ideal for maximizing the interaction with material surfaces. The optical beams are Gaussian with nearly perfect beam quality. See www.jlab.org/FEL for details of the operating characteristics; a wide variety of pulse train configurations are feasible from 10ms long at high repetition rates to continuous operation.The THz and IR system has been commissioned. The UV system is to follow in 2005. The light is transported to user laboratories for basic and applied research. Additional lasers synchronized to the FEL are also available. Past activities have included production of carbon nanotubes, studies of vibrational relaxation of interstitial hydrogen in silicon, pulsed laser deposition and ablation, nitriding of metals, and energy flow in proteins. This paper will present the status of the system and discuss some of the discoveries we have made concerning the physics performance, design optimization, and operational limitations of such a first generation high power ERL light source. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Jefferson Lab (JLab) 10 kW IR Upgrade FEL DC GaAs photocathode gun is presently the highest average current electron source operational in the U.S., delivering a record 9.1 mA CW, 350 kV electron beam with 122 pC/bunch at 75 MHz rep rate. Pulsed operation has also been demonstrated with 8 mA per pulse (110 pC/bunch) in 16 ms-long pulses at 2 Hz rep rate. Routinely the gun delivers 5 mA CW and pulse current at 135 pC/bunch for FEL operations. The Upgrade DC photocathode gun is a direct evolution of the DC photocathode gun used in the previous JLab 1 kW IR Demo FEL. Improvements in the vacuum conditions, incorporation of two UHV motion mechanisms (a retractable cathode and a photocathode shield door) and a new way to add cesium to the GaAs photocathode surface have extended its lifetime to over 500 Coulombs delivered between re-cesiations (quantum efficiency replenishment). With each photocathode activation quantum efficiencies above 6% are routinely achieved. The photocathode activation and performance will be described in detail.

After demonstrating 10 kW operation with 1 second pulses, the Jefferson Lab program switched to demonstrating high power operation at short wavelengths using a new 8 cm period wiggler and a THz suppression chicane. We report here on the lasing results to date using this new configuration. We have demonstrated a large reduction in THz heating on the mirrors. We have also eliminated heating in the mirror steering assemblies, making operation at high power much more stable. Finally, we have greatly reduced astigmatism in the optical cavity, allowing operation with a very short Rayleigh range. The laser has been tuned from 0.9 to 3.1 microns using the new wiggler. User experiments commenced in April of 2005 with the FEL Upgrade operating over the 1-3 micron range. We are in the process of installing a 5.5 cm permanent magnet wiggler that will give us even larger tuning range and higher power.

The JLab IR Upgrade Injector has delivered up to 9.1 mA of CW electron beam current at 9 MeV. The injector is driven by a 350 kV DC Photocathode Gun. Injector behavior and beam-based measurements are in good agreement with PARMELA simulations. The injected beam envelopes were established by measuring beam spot sizes and comparing them with those predicted by a transport matrix based model. The emittances were measured by fitting an initial trial beam matrix to the measured data. The injected bunch length was established by measuring the energy spread downstream of the Linac while operating at either side of crest.

A new THz/IR/UV photon source at Jefferson Lab is the first of a new generation of light sources based on a Energy-Recovered, (superconducting) Linac (ERL). The machine has a 160 MeV electron beam and an average current of 10 mA in 75 MHz repetition rate hundred femtosecond bunches. These electron bunches pass through a magnetic chicane and therefore emit synchrotron radiation. For wavelengths longer than the electron bunch the electrons radiate coherently a broadband THz ~ half cycle pulse whose average brightness is > 5 orders of magnitude higher than synchrotron IR sources. Previous measurements showed 20 W of average power extracted[1]. The new facility offers simultaneous synchrotron light from the visible through the FIR along with broadband THz production of 100 fs pulses with >200 W of average power (see G. P. Williams, this conference). The FELs also provide record-breaking laser power [2]: up to 10 kW of average power in the IR from 1 to 14 microns in 400 fs pulses at up to 74.85 MHz repetition rates and soon will produce similar pulses of 300–1000 nm light at up to 3 kW of average power from the UV FEL. These ultrashort pulses are ideal for maximizing the interaction with material surfaces. The optical beams are Gaussian with nearly perfect beam quality. See www.jlab.org/FEL for details of the operating characteristics; a wide variety of pulse train configurations are feasible from 10 microseconds long at high repetition rates to continuous operation. The THz and IR system has been commissioned. The UV system is to follow in 2005. The light is transported to user laboratories for basic and applied research. Additional lasers synchronized to the FEL are also available. Past activities have included production of carbon nanotubes, studies of vibrational relaxation of interstitial hydrogen in silicon, pulsed laser vapor deposition, nitriding of metals, and energy flow in proteins. This paper will present the status of the system and discuss some of the opportunities provided by this unique light source for modifying and studying materials.

The JLab IR Upgrade Injector has delivered up to 9.1 mA of CW electron beam current at 9 MeV. The injector is driven by a 350 kV DC Photocathode Gun. Injector behavior and beam-based measurements are in good agreement with PARMELA simulations. The injected beam envelopes were established by measuring beam spot sizes and comparing them with those predicted by a transport matrix based model. The emittances were measured by fitting an initial trial beam matrix to the measured data. The injected bunch length was established by measuring the energy spread downstream of the Linac while operating at either side of crest.

We report on progress in commissioning the IR Upgrade facility at Jefferson Lab. Operation at high power has been demonstrated at 5.7 microns with over 8.5 kW of continuous power output, 10 kW for 1 second long pulses, and CW recirculated electron beam power of over 1.1 MW. We report on the features and limitations of the present design and report on the path to getting even higher powers.

We report initial lasing results from the IR Upgrade FEL at Jefferson Lab (Proceedings: 2001 Particle Accelerator Conference, IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 2001). The electron accelerator was operated with low average current beam at 80MeV. The time structure of the beam was 120pC bunches at 4.678MHz with up to 750μs pulses at 2Hz. Lasing was established over the entire wavelength range of the mirrors (5.5–6.6μm). The detuning curve length, turn-on time, and power were in agreement with modeling results assuming a 1ps FWHM micropulse. The same model predicts over 10kW of power output with 10mA of beam and 10% output coupling, which is the ultimate design goal of the IR Upgrade FEL. The behavior of the laser while the dispersion section strength was varied was found to qualitatively match predictions. Initial CW lasing results also will be presented.

We report on progress in commissioning the IR Upgrade facility at Jefferson Lab. Operation at high power has been demonstrated at 5.7 microns with over 8.5 kW of continuous power output, 10 kW for 1 second long pulses, and CW recirculated electron beam power of over 1.1 MW. We report on the features and limitations of the present design and report on the path to getting even higher powers.

Observations of energy spread asymmetry when operating the Linac on either side of crest and longitudinal emittance growth have been confirmed by extending PARMELA simulations from the injector to the end of the first SRF Linac module. The asymmetry can be explained by the interaction of the accelerating electric field with that from longitudinal space charge effects within the electron bunch. This can be a major limitation to performance in FEL accelerators.

Field-emission studies have been performed on a GaAs wafer and a sample of its stainless-steel (SS) support electrode that are part of a photocathode gun for the 10 kW Upgrade infrared free electron laser at Jefferson Lab. The objective of the studies presented here is to characterize the effect of both the cleanliness of the wafer and the plasma–source ion-implanted layer on the electrode to suppress field emission. Field emission is the limiting factor to achieve the required 6 MV/m at the surface of the wafer. Potential field emitters are first located on the surface of 1 in. diameter samples with a dc scanning field-emission microscope at 60 MV/m, then each emitter is characterized in a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer. The GaAs wafer was hydrogen cleaned before the study. The results show three emitters caused by indium contamination during wafer handling. The GaAs wafer thus shows good high-voltage characteristics and the need to maintain cleanliness during handling. The SS sample is hand polished with diamond paste to a 1 μm surface finish, then implanted with N2/SiO2 in a plasma–source ion-implantation chamber in preparation for the field-emission studies.

Jefferson Lab is in the process of building an upgrade to our Free-Electron Laser Facility with broad wavelength range and timing flexibility. The facility will have two cw free-electron lasers, one in the infrared operating from 1 to 14 microns and one in the UV/VIS operating from 0.25 to 1 micron [1]. In addition, there will be beamlines for Thompson-backscattered femtosecond X-rays, and broadband THz radiation. The average power levels for each of these devices will exceed any other available sources by at least 2 orders of magnitude. Timing of the available laser pulses can be continuously mode-locked at least 4 different (MHz) repetition rates or in macropulse mode with pulses of a few microseconds in duration with a repetition rate of many kHz. The status of the construction of this facility and a review of its capabilities will be presented.

The development of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator technology for CEBAF's nuclear physics program set the stage for its application to a number of other efforts. We describe below the development of the a major advance in Free Electron Laser (FEL) Technology based on SRF linacs. The Jefferson Lab efforts achieved three orders of magnitude increase in the power delivered by FELs and firmly established the viability of energy recovering linac technology. We describe the details of the physics and engineering challenges addressed to accomplish this effort and then discuss some of the applications performed using the light source. We conclude with a look at the planned directions for the program in the future.

The performance of the 320 kV DC photocathode gun has met the design specifications for the I kW IR Demo FEL at Jefferson Lab. This gun has shown the ability to deliver high average current beam with outstanding lifetimes. The GaAs photocathode has delivered 135 pC per bunch, at a bunch repetition rate of 37.425 MHz, corresponding to 5 mA average CW current. In a recent cathode lifetime measurement, 20 h of CW beam was delivered with an average current of 3.1 mA and 211 C of total charge from a 0.283 cm(2) illuminated spot. The cathode showed a Ile lifetime of 58 h and a 1/e extracted charge lifetime of 618 C. We have achieved quantum efficiencies of 5% from a GaAs wafer that has been in service for 13 months delivering in excess 2400 C with only three activation cycles. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Jefferson Laboratory's Free Electron Laser (FEL) incorporates a cesiated gallium arsenide (GaAs) DC photocathode gun as its electron source. By using a set of scanning mirrors, the surface of the GaAs wafer is illuminated with a 543.5nm helium–neon laser. Measuring the current flow across the biased photocathode generates a quantum efficiency (QE) map of the 1-in. diameter wafer surface. The resulting QE map provides a very detailed picture of the efficiency of the wafer surface. By generating a QE map in a matter of minutes, the photocathode scanner has proven to be an exceptional tool in quickly determining sensitivity and availability of the photocathode for operation.