Compact noninvasive electron bunch-length monitor

Abstract

A compact rf cavity was constructed that simultaneously resonates at many harmonic modes when excited by a repetitive bunched electron beam passing through its bore. The excitation of these modes provides a Fourier description of the temporal characteristics of the bunch train. The cavity was used to noninvasively characterize electron bunches produced from thin and thick GaAs photocathodes inside a DC high voltage photogun illuminated with 37 ps (full width half maximum, FWHM) laser pulses at repetition rates near 1500 MHz, at average beam current from 5 to 500 μA, and at beam energy from 75 to 195 keV. The cavity bunch-length monitor could detect electron bunches as short as 57 ps (FWHM) when connected directly to a sampling oscilloscope, and could clearly distinguish bunches with varying degrees of space-charge induced growth and with different tail signatures. Efforts are under way to detect shorter bunches by designing cavities with increased bandwidth. This demonstration lends credibility to the idea that these cavities could also be used for other applications, including bunching and shaping, when driven with external rf.