Modeling and Optimization of the APS Photo-Injector Using OPAL for High Efficiency FEL Experiments

The Linac Extension Area (LEA) is a new beamline planned as an extension of Argonne's APS linac. An S-band 1.6-cell copper photo-cathode (PC) RF gun has been installed and commissioned at the APS linac front end. The PC gun will provide a beam to the LEA for accelerator technology development and beam physics experiments, in interleaving with a thermionic RF gun which provides a beam for APS storage ring operations. Recently an experiment was proposed to demonstrate the TESSA high-efficiency concept at LEA. In support of this experiment, we have begun simulating the photo-injector using the code OPAL (Object-oriented Particle Accelerator Library). In this paper, we first benchmark OPAL simulations with the established APS photo-injector optimization using ASTRA and ELEGANT. Key beam parameters required for a successful high-efficiency TESSA demonstration are discussed.