nan H.Hao

Widely Tunable Two-Color Free-Electron Laser on a Storage Ring

With a wide wavelength tuning range, free-electron lasers (FELs) are well suited for producing simultaneous lasing at multiple wavelengths. We present the first experimental results of a novel two-color storage ring FEL. With three undulators and a pair of dual-band mirrors, the two-color FEL can lase simultaneously in infrared (IR) around 720 nm and in ultraviolet (UV) around 360 nm. We have demonstrated independent wavelength tuning in a wide range (60 nm in IR and 24 nm in UV). We have also realized two-color harmonic operation with the UV lasing tuned to the second harmonic of the IR lasing. Furthermore, we have demonstrated good power stability with two-color lasing, and good control of the power sharing between the two colors.

Compensation for booster leakage field in the Duke storage ring

The High Intensity Gamma-ray Source (HIGS) at Duke University is an accelerator-driven Compton gamma-ray source, providing high flux gamma-ray beam from 1 MeV to 100 MeV for photo-nuclear physics research. The HIGS facility operates three accelerators, a linac pre-injector (0.16 GeV), a booster injector (0.16-1.2 GeV), and an electron storage ring (0.24-1.2 GeV). Because of proximity of the booster injector to the storage ring, the magnetic field of the booster dipoles close to the ring can significantly alter the closed orbit in the storage ring being operated in the low energy region. This type of orbit distortion can be a problem for certain precision experiments which demand a high degree of the energy consistency of the gamma-ray beam. This energy consistency can be achieved by maintaining consistent aiming of the gamma-ray beam, therefore, a steady electron beam orbit and angle at the Compton collision point. To overcome the booster leakage field problem, we have developed an orbit compensation scheme. This scheme is developed using two fast orbit correctors and implemented as a feedforward which is operated transparently together with the slow orbit feedback system. In this paper, we will describe the development of this leakage field compensation scheme, and report the measurement results which have demonstrated the effectiveness of the scheme.

Study of magnetic hysteresis effects in a storage ring using precision tune measurement

With advances in accelerator science and technology in the recent decades, the accelerator community has focused on the development of next-generation light sources, for example the diffraction-limited storage rings (DLSRs), which requires precision control of the electron beam energy and betatron tunes. This work is aimed at understanding magnet hysteresis effects on the electron beam energy and lattice focusing in the circular accelerators, and developing new methods to gain better control of these effects. In this paper, we will report our recent experimental study of the magnetic hysteresis effects and their impacts on the Duke storage ring lattice using the transverse feedback based precision tune measurement system. The major magnet hysteresis effects associated with magnet normalization and lattice ramping are carefully studied to determine an effective procedure for lattice preparation while maintaining a high degree of reproducibility of lattice focusing. The local hysteresis effects are also studied by measuring the betatron tune shifts resulted from adjusting the setting of a quadrupole. A new technique has been developed to precisely recover the focusing strength of the quadrupole by returning it to a proper setting to overcome the local hysteresis effect.

Conditioning of BPM pickup signals for operations of the Duke storage ring with a wide range of single-bunch current

The Duke storage ring is a dedicated driver for the storage ring based oscillator free-electron lasers (FELs), and the High Intensity Gamma-ray Source (HIGS). It is operated with a beam current ranging from about 1 mA to 100 mA per bunch for various operations and accelerator physics studies. High performance operations of the FEL and γ-ray source require a stable electron beam orbit, which has been realized by the global orbit feedback system. As a critical part of the orbit feedback system, the electron beam position monitors (BPMs) are required to be able to precisely measure the electron beam orbit in a wide range of the single-bunch current. However, the high peak voltage of the BPM pickups associated with high single-bunch current degrades the performance of the BPM electronics, and can potentially damage the BPM electronics. A signal conditioning method using low pass filters is developed to reduce the peak voltage to protect the BPM electronics, and to make the BPMs capable of working with a wide range of single-bunch current. Simulations and electron beam based tests are performed. The results show that the Duke storage ring BPM system is capable of providing precise orbit measurements to ensure highly stable FEL and HIGS operations.