Storage ring THz source at MIT-Bates: recent results and development plan

The MIT-Bates South Hall Ring is equipped with a unique 2.856 GHz RF system. High RF frequency is advantageous in generating brilliant stable THz coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) from an electron storage ring. Intense sub-THz coherent CSR radiation was observed from the (SHR) recently when the ring is operating in a low momentum compaction (a) lattice mode. The signal to background (300 K blackbody) ratio was up to 80000 near 3 cm/sup -1/ frequency. Suppressing beam instabilities and store beam with very short bunch length emerged as the major technical challenges for using such high RF frequency system in storage ring based THz source. Plans to address these issues are presented.