N. Aftab | Searcharxiv

arXiv2026

Corrections for systematic errors in slit-profiler transverse phase space measurements

In photo injectors, the transverse emittance is one of the key measures of beam quality as it defines the possible performance of the whole facility. As such it is important to measure the emittance in photo injectors and ensure the accuracy of these measurements. While there are many different methods of measuring the emittance, this paper focuses on quantifying the systematic errors present in transverse phase space measurements taken with slit-profiler methods, i.e. scanning a narrow slit over the beam and continually measuring the passed beamlets' divergence with a downstream profiler. The measurement errors include effects of the slit size, beamlet imaging, and residual space charge. While these effects are generally small, they can have significant impact on the measured emittance when the 2D phase space is strongly coupled. The systematic effects studied and corrections are demonstrated with simulations and measurements from the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) using a slit-screen emittance scanner.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2024

First high peak and average power single-pass THz FEL based on high brightness photoinjector

Advanced experiments using THz pump and X-ray probe pulses at modern free-electron lasers (FELs) like the European X-ray FEL require a frequency-tunable, high-power, narrow-band THz source maintaining the repetition rate and pulse structure of the X-ray pulses. This paper reports the first results from a THz source, that is based on a single-pass high-gain THz FEL operating with a central wavelength of 100 micrometers. The THz FEL prototype is currently in operation at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) and uses the same type of electron source as the European XFEL photo injector. A self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) FEL was envisioned as the main mechanism for generating the THz pulses. Although the THz FEL at PITZ is supposed to use the same mechanism as at X-ray facilities, it cannot be considered as a simple scaling of the radiation wavelength because there is a large difference in the number of electrons per radiation wavelength, which is five orders of magnitude higher for the THz case. The bunching factor arising from the electron beam current profile contributes strongly to the initial spontaneous emission starting the FEL process. Proof-of-principle experiments were done at PITZ using an LCLS-I undulator to generate the first high-power, high-repetition-rate single-pass THz FEL radiation. Electron bunches with a beam energy of ~17 MeV and a bunch charge of up to several nC are used to generate THz pulses with a pulse energy of several tens of microjoules. For example, for an electron beam with a charge of ~2.4 nC, more than 100 microjoules were generated at a central wavelength of 100 micrometers. The narrowband spectrum was also demonstrated by spectral measurements. These proof-of-principle experiments pave the way for a tunable, high-repetition-rate THz source providing pulses with energies in the millijoule range.

physics.acc-ph↗