Photoinjector design for the LCLS

The design of the Linac Coherent Light Source assumes that a low-emittance, 1-nC, 10-ps beam will be available for injection into the 15-GeV linac. The proposed rf photocathode injector that will provide a 150-MeV beam with rms normalized emittances of 1 mm in both the transverse and longitudinal dimensions is based on a 1.6-cell S-band rf gun that is equipped with an emittance compensating solenoid. The booster accelerator is positioned at the beam waist coinciding with the first emittance maximum and is provided with an accelerating gradient of ~25 MeV/m, i.e., the "new working point." The uv pulses required for cathode excitation will be generated by tripling the output of a Ti:sapphire laser system consisting of a highly stable cw mode-locked oscillator and two bow-tie amplifiers pumped by a pair of Q-switched Nd:YAG lasers. The large bandwidth of the Ti:sapphire system accommodates the desired temporal pulse shaping. Details of the design and the supporting simulations are presented.