PSI, Villigen
The proposed SwissFEL project is an X-ray Free-Electron Laser, which operates down to a wavelength of 1 Ångstrom. In comparison to other XFELs (LCLS, SCSS and European XFEL) SwissFEL has the lowest beam energy of 5.8 GeV. Therefore a short period in vacuum undulator (15 mm) and a low beam emittance is required for maximum overlap between the electron beam and the fundamental FEL mode and a sufficient degree of transverse coherence at the saturation point. We present the numerical analysis of the radiation field properties along the undulator with an emphasis on the degree of coherence at saturation and undulator exit.
PSI, Villigen
The coupled system of radiation interacting with a co-propagating electron beam within an undulator of an FEL exhibits many degrees of freedom. Only in an idealized and simplified model can the FEL equations be solved analytically and a more complete description requires numerical methods. Therefore numerical codes have been developed along with the advances in FEL theory, starting from a simple 1 D model to today's fully time-dependent 3D simulations, utilizing large scale parallel computers. This presentation gives a brief history of FEL simulation and addresses the remaining challenges in FEL modeling which we hope to solve in the near future.
PSI, Villigen
The SwissFEL facility will produce coherent, ultra-bright, and ultra-short photon pulses covering a wavelength range from 0.1 nm to 7 nm, requiring an emittance between 0.18 to 0.43 mm mrad. It consists of an S-band rf-gun and booster and a C-band main linac, which accelerates the beam up to 5.8 GeV. Two compression chicanes will provide the required peak current of 2.7 kA. An important issue is the stability of the photon pulses leaving the undulator toward the user stations. Arrival time and peak current stability are crucial factors for the scientific return of the user experiments. Machine stability, especially the rf jitter, will directly affect these important figures. Shot-to-shot jitter is of main interest here since long term drifts can be compensated by slow feedback systems. We present a study on stability including rf tolerances for a new optimised layout of the SwissFEL.
PSI, Villigen
Transverse beam trajectory control is of great importance for SwissFEL as the lasing strategy is based on a relatively low energy and low emittance beam compared with other X-FEL facilities, thus aiming at a reasonable construction cost and size of the facility. A study of beam based alignment and orbit feedback has been performed, and a trajectory correction scenario, which would fulfill the beam requirements as well as the hardware constraints, has been set up. The beam based alignment will be discussed for the linac and the undulator section separately because of the much tighter tolerance in the latter. Several correction algorithms are examined using numerical simulations. BPM requirements and orbit feedback concept will be discussed, with reference to some available data on dynamic disturbances such as ground motion at the PSI site, e.g. at the SwissFEL injector test facility currently under commissioning.