Electron beam energy chirp control with a rectangular corrugated structure at the Linac Coherent Light Source

Abstract

Electron beam energy chirp is an important parameter that affects the bandwidth and performance of a linac-based, free-electron laser. In this paper we study the wakefields generated by a beam passing between flat metallic plates with small corrugations, and then apply such a device as a passive dechirper for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) energy chirp control with a multi-GeV and femtosecond electron beam. Similar devices have been tested in several places at relatively low energies (∼100 MeV) and with relatively long bunches (>1 ps). In the parameter regime of the LCLS dechirper, with the corrugation size similar to the gap between the plates, the analytical solutions of the wakefields are no longer applicable, and we resort to a field matching program to obtain the wakes. Based on the numerical calculations, we fit the short-range, longitudinal wakes to simple formulas, valid over a large, useful parameter range. Finally, since the transverse wakefields—both dipole and quadrupole—are strong, we compute and include them in beam dynamics simulations to investigate the error tolerances when this device is introduced in the LCLS.