The Northrop Grumman Compact Infrared FEL (CIRFEL)

As part of Northrop Grumman's ongoing research in particle accelerators, we have designed and are commissioning a Compact Infrared Free-Electron Laser (CIRFEL) for the study of high-brightness electron beams and free-electron lasers. Besides serving as a tool for FEL development, the CIRFEL laboratory, located at Princeton University, will be used in experiments ranging from basic FEL physics and biophysics to chemistry, materials science and medicine. The CIRFEL is to lase initially in the 10 - 20 /spl mu/m range. The pulse format of this FEL is a train of micropulses, 5 - 10 psec is duration, at a repetition rate of 142.8 MHz. The micropulse energy is in excess of 100 /spl mu/J. The micropulses comprise a macropulse lasting approximately 10 /spl mu/sec. The macropulse repetition rate is 10 Hz, thus the average power of the FEL is on the order of 1.5 W.