Author: Stingelin, L.
Paper Title Page
TUPSO03 Dark Current Transport and Collimation Studies for SwissFEL 209
 
  • S. Bettoni, P. Craievich, M. Pedrozzi, S. Reiche, L. Stingelin
    PSI, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
 
  In all accelerating cavities a non negligible background of electrons can be generated by field emission (dark current), transported and further accelerated. A careful estimate of the transport of the dark current is crucial in order to minimize radiation damage to the components and activation of the machine. This paper describes the generation and the transport of dark current from the SwissFEL photo injector downstream of the accelerator. The analysis is based on numerical simulations and experimental measurements performed at the SwissFEL Injector Test Facility (SITF). In the simulations the charge distribution is generated by an emission model based on the Fowler-Nordheim equation taking into account the filling time of the cavity and then tracked through the machine. This model has been used to analyze the impact of a low energy collimation system upstream of the first travelling wave accelerating structure on the dark current transport. A slit with several apertures has been installed in the SITF to benchmark the simulations and to verify the impact of the wakefields on the nominal beam.  
 
TUPSO21 SwissFEL Cathode Load-lock System 259
 
  • R. Ganter, M. Bopp, N. Gaiffi, T. Le Quang, M. Pedrozzi, M. Schaer, T. Schietinger, L. Schulz, L. Stingelin, A. Trisorio
    PSI, Villigen PSI, Switzerland
 
  The SwissFEL electron source is an RF photo-injector in which the photo-cathode plug can be exchanged. Without load-lock, the cathode exchange takes about one week and cathode surface gets contaminated in the atmosphere during installation, leading to unpredictable quantum efficiency (QE) fluctuations. This motivated the construction of a load lock system to prepare and insert cathodes in the photo-injector. This load lock system consists of three parts: the preparation chamber, the transportable vacuum suitcase and the gun load lock chamber. This three parts system gives the possibility to prepare the cathode surface with methods like vacuum firing and plasma cleaning. The QE can be checked and the plug can be inserted in the gun without breaking vacuum. This will allow establishing an optimized a reproducible cathode preparation procedure. Since several cathodes can be loaded in advance, the exchange procedure reduces the machine shutdown to a few hours (shorter RF conditioning). The system is described and first experience with its use is reported.