Emittance control and RF bunch compression in the NSRRC photoinjector

The high-brightness photoinjector being constructed at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center is for testing new accelerator and light-source concepts. It is the so-called split photoinjector configuration in which a short solenoid magnet is used for emittance compensation. The UV-drive laser pulses are also shaped to produce uniform cylindrical bunches for further reduction of beam emittance. However, limited by the available power from our microwave power system, the nominal accelerating gradient in the S-band booster linac is set at 18 MV/m. A simulation study with PARMELA shows that the linac operating at this gradient fails to freeze the electron beam emittance at low value. A background solenoid magnetic field is applied for beam emittance control in the linac during acceleration. A satisfactory result that meets our preliminary goal has been achieved with the solenoid magnetic field strength at 0.1 T. RF bunch compression as a means to achieve the required beam brightness for high-gain free-electron laser experiments is also examined. The reduction of bunch length to a few hundred femtoseconds can be obtained. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.