Diagnostics and electron-optics of a high current electron beam in the Tandem free electron laser — status report

In the construction of the Israeli TANDEM FEL the major task is to develop a high quality electron optic system. The goal is to focus the e-beam to a minimal radius (1 mm) in the interaction region (the wiggler). Furthermore, good focusing throughout the accelerator is essential in order to achieve high transport efficiency avoiding discharge and voltage drop of the high voltage terminal. We have completed the electron optical design and component procurement, including 8 quadrupole lenses 4 steering coils and an electrostatic control system. All are being assembled into the high voltage terminal and controlled by a fiber optic link. Diagnostic means based on fluorescent screens and compact CCD camera cards placed at the HV terminal and at the end of the e-gun injector have been developed. We report first measurements of the beam emittance at the entrance to the Tandem accelerator tube using the {open_quote}pepper pot{close_quote} technique. The experiment consists of passing the 0.5 Amp beam through a thin plate which is perforated with an army of 0.5 mm holes. The spots produced on a fluorescent screen placed 90 cm from the pepper pot were recorded with a CCD camera and a frame grabber. The measured normalizedmore » emittance is lower than 10{pi} mm mR which is quite close to the technical limit of dispenser cathode e-guns of the kind we have. Recent results of the measured transport efficiency and the diagnostics of the high current (1A, 1.5MV) electron-optical system will be reported.« less