Subharmonic Triple Buncher for a High-Efficiency Free Electron Laser

A high-efficiency free electron laser oscillator experiment is being constructed at Los Alamos National Laboratory. A buncher system has been designed to deliver 30-ps, 5-nC electron bunches to a 20-MeV standing-wave linac at the 60th subharmonic of the 1300-MHz accelerator frequency. The first 108.3-MHz buncher cavity accepts a 5-ns, 5-A peak current pulse from a triode gun. Following a 120-cm drift space, a second 108.3-MHz cavity is used, primarily to enhance the bunching of the trailing half of the bunch. A 1300-MHz cavity with 20-cm drift spaces at each end completes the beamline components. The bunching process continues into the linac's first three accelerating cells. Two thin iron-shielded lenses and seven large-diameter solenoids provide axial magnetic fields for radial focusing.