SLAC, Menlo Park, California, USA
LBNL, Berkeley, California, USA
Arizona State University, Tempe, USA
Cornell University (CLASSE), Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences and Education, Ithaca, New York, USA
UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
The next generation of free electron lasers will be the first to see the performance of the laser strongly dependent on the materials properties of the photocathode. A new injector proposed for the LCLS-II HE is an example of this revolution, with the goal of increasing the photon energy achievable by LCLS-II to over 20 keV. We must now ask, what is the optimal cathode, temperature, and laser combination to enable this injector? There are many competing requirements. The cathode must be robust enough to operate in a superconducting injector, and must not cause contamination of the injector. It must achieve sufficient charge at high repetition rate, while minimizing the emittance. The wavelength chosen must minimize mean transverse energy while maintaining tolerable levels of multi-photon emission. The cathode must be capable of operating at high (~30 MV/m) gradient, which puts limits on both surface roughness and field emission. This presentation will discuss the trade space for such a cathode/laser combination, and detail a new collaborative program among a variety of institutions to investigate it.
Cornell University (CLASSE), Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-Based Sciences and Education, Ithaca, New York, USA
LBNL, Berkeley, California, USA
Arizona State University, Tempe, USA
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
Plasmonic cathodes, whose nanoscale features may locally enhance optical energy from the driving laser trapped at the vacuum interface, have emerged as a promising technology for improving the brightness of metal cathodes. A six orders of magnitude improvement [1] in the non-linear yield of metals has been experimentally demonstrated through this type of nanopatterning. Further, nanoscale lens structures may focus light below its free-space wavelength offering multiphoton photoemission from a region near 10 times smaller [2] than that achievable in typical photoinjectors. In this proceeding, we report on our efforts to characterize the brightness of two plasmonic cathode concepts: a spiral lens and a nanogroove array. We demonstrate an ability to engineer and fabricate nanoscale patterned cathodes by comparing their optical properties with those computed with a finite difference time domain (FDTD) code. The emittance and nonlinear yield of the cathodes are measured under ultrafast laser irradiation. Finally, prospects of this technology for the control and acceleration of charged particle beams are discussed.
[1] Polyakov, A., et al. (2013). Physical Review Letters, 110(7), 076802.
[2] Durham, D. B., et al. (2019). Physical Review Applied, 12(5), 054057.