Saturnus: the UCLA infrared free-electron laser project

A compact 20-MeV linac with an RF laser-driven electron gun will be used to drive a high-gain (10-cm gain length), 10.6- mu m wavelength FEL (free-electron laser) amplifier, operating in the SASE mode. Saturnus will mainly be used to study FEL physics in the high-gain regime, including start-up from noise, optical guiding, sidebands, saturation, and superradiance, with emphasis on the effects important for future short-wavelength operation of FELs. The primary magnetic flux is provided by C-shaped iron yokes, where between the poles thin blocks of neodymium-iron-boron magnets are placed to provide additional magnetic flux along the undulator axis.<
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