CONTROL SYSTEM IN SWISSFEL INJECTOR TEST FACILITY

The Free Electron Laser (SwissFEL) Injector Test Facility is an important milestone for realization of a new SwissFEL facility at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen, Switzerland. The first beam in the Test Facility was produced on the 24th of August 2010 which inaugurated the Injector operation. Since then, the beam quality in various aspects has been greatly improved. The primary goal of the Injector Test Facility is to demonstrate a high-brightness electron beam which will be required to drive the SwissFEL main linac. The Injector further serves as a platform for the development and validation of accelerator components needed for the SwissFEL project. This paper presents the current status of the Test Facility and is focused on the control system related issues which led to the successful commissioning. In addition, the technical challenges and opportunities in view of the future SwissFEL facility are discussed.