Jiaru Shi

Note: Single-shot continuously time-resolved MeV ultrafast electron diffraction

We have demonstrated single-shot continuously time-resolved MeV ultrafast electron diffraction using a static single crystal gold sample. An MeV high density electron pulse was used to probe the sample and then streaked by an rf deflecting cavity. The single-shot, high quality, streaked diffraction pattern allowed structural information within several picoseconds to be continuously temporally resolved with an approximately 200 fs resolution. The temporal resolution can be straightforwardly improved to 100 fs by increasing the streaking strength. We foresee that this system would become a powerful tool for ultrafast structural dynamics studies.

Experimental demonstration of high quality MeV ultrafast electron diffraction.

The simulation optimization and an experimental demonstration of improved performances of mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction (MeV UED) are reported in this paper. Using ultrashort high quality electron pulses from an S-band photocathode rf gun and a polycrystalline aluminum foil as the sample, we experimentally demonstrated an improved spatial resolution of MeV UED, in which the Debye-Scherrer rings of the (111) and (200) planes were clearly resolved. This result showed that MeV UED is capable to achieve an atomic level spatial resolution and a approximately 100 fs temporal resolution simultaneously, and will be a unique tool for ultrafast structural dynamics studies.

Observation of Field-Emission Dependence on Stored Energy

Field emission from a solid metal surface has been continuously studied for a century over macroscopic to atomic scales. It is general knowledge that, other than the surface properties, the emitted current is governed solely by the applied electric field. A pin cathode has been used to study the dependence of field emission on stored energy in an L-band rf gun. The stored energy was changed by adjusting the axial position (distance between the cathode base and the gun back surface) of the cathode while the applied electric field on the cathode tip is kept constant. A very strong correlation of the field-emission current with the stored energy has been observed. While eliminating all possible interfering sources, an enhancement of the current by a factor of 5 was obtained as the stored energy was increased by a factor of 3. It implies that under certain circumstances a localized field emission may be significantly altered by the global parameters in a system.

A Three-Cell Superconducting Deflecting Cavity Design for the ALS at LBNL

Deflecting RF cavities may be used to generate subpicosecond x-rays by creating correlations between longitudinal and transverse phase space in electron bunches in radiation devices. Up to 2-MV defecting voltage at 1.5-GHz is required for 1.9-GeV electron beam at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). In this paper, we present a conceptual design for a 1.5-GHz three-cell superconducting RF cavity and its couplers. The cavity geometry and its shunt impedance at the deflecting mode are optimized using MAFIA code. The cavity impedances from lower and higher order modes (LOMs and HOMs) are computed as well. Possible schemes for damping most harmful LOM and HOM modes are discussed and simulated.

Diffraction based method to reconstruct the spectrum of the Thomson scattering x-ray source

As Thomson scattering x-ray sources based on the collision of intense laser and relativistic electrons have drawn much attention in various scientific fields, there is an increasing demand for the effective methods to reconstruct the spectrum information of the ultra-short and high-intensity x-ray pulses. In this paper, a precise spectrum measurement method for the Thomson scattering x-ray sources was proposed with the diffraction of a Highly Oriented Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) crystal and was demonstrated at the Tsinghua Thomson scattering X-ray source. The x-ray pulse is diffracted by a 15 mm (L) ×15 mm (H)× 1 mm (D) HOPG crystal with 1° mosaic spread. By analyzing the diffraction pattern, both x-ray peak energies and energy spectral bandwidths at different polar angles can be reconstructed, which agree well with the theoretical value and simulation. The higher integral reflectivity of the HOPG crystal makes this method possible for single-shot measurement.

Passive energy jitter reduction in the cascaded third harmonic generation process

In free electron laser (FEL) systems with ultraviolet (UV) laser driven injectors, a highly stable UV source generated through cascaded third harmonic generation (THG) from an infrared (IR) source is a key element in guaranteeing the acceptable current jitter at the undulator. In this letter, the negative slope of the THG efficiency for high intensity ultrashort IR pulses is revealed to be a passive stabilization mechanism for energy jitter reduction in UV. A reduction of 2.5 times the energy jitter in UV is demonstrated in the experiment and simulations show that the energy jitter in UV can be reduced by more than one order of magnitude if the energy jitter in IR is less than 3%, with proper design of the THG efficiency curve, fulfilling the challenging requirement for UV laser stability in a broad scope of applications such as the photoinjector of x-ray FELs.

Terahertz streaking of few-femtosecond relativistic electron beams

Streaking of photoelectrons with optical lasers has been widely used for temporal characterization of attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses. Recently, this technique has been adapted to characterize femtosecond x-ray pulses in free-electron lasers with the streaking imprinted by far-infrared and terahertz (THz) pulses. Here, we report successful implementation of THz streaking for time stamping of an ultrashort relativistic electron beam, whose energy is several orders of magnitude higher than photoelectrons. Such an ability is especially important for MeV ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) applications, where electron beams with a few femtosecond pulse width may be obtained with longitudinal compression, while the arrival time may fluctuate at a much larger timescale. Using this laser-driven THz streaking technique, the arrival time of an ultrashort electron beam with a 6-fs (rms) pulse width has been determined with 1.5-fs (rms) accuracy. Furthermore, we have proposed and demonstrated a noninvasive method for correction of the timing jitter with femtosecond accuracy through measurement of the compressed beam energy, which may allow one to advance UED towards a sub-10-fs frontier, far beyond the approximate 100-fs (rms) jitter.

Field emission study using an L-band photocathode gun

Field emission is strongly coupled to the breakdown problem. A series of experiments is being carried out at Argonne Wakefield Accelerator Facility (AWA) using an L-band photocathode gun. Cathodes with different shapes have been tested and a dark current imaging system has been set up. Initial experiment results are presented.

In Situ observation of dark current emission in a high gradient rf photocathode gun

Undesirable electron field emission (also known as dark current) in high gradient rf photocathode guns deteriorates the quality of the photoemission current and limits the operational gradient. To improve the understanding of dark current emission, a high-resolution (∼100  μm) dark current imaging experiment has been performed in an L-band photocathode gun operating at ∼100  MV/m of surface gradient. Scattered strong emission areas with high current have been observed on the cathode. The field enhancement factor β of selected regions on the cathode has been measured. The postexaminations with scanning electron microscopy and white light interferometry reveal the origins of ∼75% strong emission areas overlap with the spots where rf breakdown has occurred.

Experiment on the cold test model of a 2-cell superconducting deflecting cavity for ALS at LBNL

Deflecting cavities are proposed for ALS at LBNL to generate sub-picosecond X-ray pulses. A 2-cell structure has been simulated to achieve required deflecting voltage and damping waveguide is attached on beam pipe to get low impedance. To demonstrate the simulation, we made an aluminum cold test model. Detailed configuration of the experiments measuring the field distribution and Qs with/without waveguide loaded are presented. Calculated (R/Q)s and waveguide damping are compared with simulation.