John Schmerge

Ultrafast electron microscopy in materials science, biology, and chemistry

The use of pump-probe experiments to study complex transient events has been an area of significant interest in materials science, biology, and chemistry. While the emphasis has been on laser pump with laser probe and laser pump with x-ray probe experiments, there is a significant and growing interest in using electrons as probes. Early experiments used electrons for gas-phase diffraction of photostimulated chemical reactions. More recently, scientists are beginning to explore phenomena in the solid state such as phase transformations, twinning, solid-state chemical reactions, radiation damage, and shock propagation. This review focuses on the emerging area of ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM), which comprises ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and dynamic transmission electron microscopy (DTEM). The topics that are treated include the following: (1) The physics of electrons as an ultrafast probe. This encompasses the propagation dynamics of the electrons (space-charge effect, Child’s law, Boersch effect) and extends to relativistic effects. (2) The anatomy of UED and DTEM instruments. This includes discussions of the photoactivated electron gun (also known as photogun or photoelectron gun) at conventional energies (60–200 keV) and extends to MeV beams generated by rf guns. Another critical aspect of the systems is the electron detector. Charge-coupled device cameras and microchannel-plate-based cameras are compared and contrasted. The effect of various physical phenomena on detective quantum efficiency is discussed. (3) Practical aspects of operation. This includes determination of time zero, measurement of pulse-length, and strategies for pulse compression. (4) Current and potential applications in materials science, biology, and chemistry. UEM has the potential to make a significant impact in future science and technology. Understanding of reaction pathways of complex transient phenomena in materials science, biology, and chemistry will provide fundamental knowledge for discovery-class science.

Experimental verification of the 3-step model of photoemission for energy spread and emittance measurements of copper and CsBr-coated copper photocathodes suitable for free electron laser applications

This paper presents measurements and analysis of the quantum efficiency (QE) and intrinsic emittance of Cu and CsBr coated Cu photocathodes. The data analysis uses expressions for the quantum efficiency and the intrinsic emittance for metal cathodes previously derived from Spicers three-step model of photoemission. Data taken with a 257u2009nm CW laser on (100) Cu crystals indicate an emittance of 0.77 (μm/mm-rms) for CsBr coated and 0.42 (μm/mm-rms) for uncoated cathodes. The high quantum efficiency and low emittance observed for CsBr coated cathodes have applications in free electron laser and other devices requiring high brightness electron beams.

A novel electron accelerator for MRI-Linac radiotherapy

PURPOSEnMRI guided radiotherapy is a rapidly growing field; however, current electron accelerators are not designed to operate in the magnetic fringe fields of MRI scanners. As such, current MRI-Linac systems require magnetic shielding, which can degrade MR image quality and limit system flexibility. The purpose of this work was to develop and test a novel medical electron accelerator concept which is inherently robust to operation within magnetic fields for in-line MRI-Linac systems.nnnMETHODSnComputational simulations were utilized to model the accelerator, including the thermionic emission process, the electromagnetic fields within the accelerating structure, and resulting particle trajectories through these fields. The spatial and energy characteristics of the electron beam were quantified at the accelerator target and compared to published data for conventional accelerators. The model was then coupled to the fields from a simulated 1 T superconducting magnet and solved for cathode to isocenter distances between 1.0 and 2.4 m; the impact on the electron beam was quantified.nnnRESULTSnFor the zero field solution, the average current at the target was 146.3 mA, with a median energy of 5.8 MeV (interquartile spread of 0.1 MeV), and a spot size diameter of 1.5 mm full-width-tenth-maximum. Such an electron beam is suitable for therapy, comparing favorably to published data for conventional systems. The simulated accelerator showed increased robustness to operation in in-line magnetic fields, with a maximum current loss of 3% compared to 85% for a conventional system in the same magnetic fields.nnnCONCLUSIONSnComputational simulations suggest that replacing conventional DC electron sources with a RF based source could be used to develop medical electron accelerators which are robust to operation in in-line magnetic fields. This would enable the development of MRI-Linac systems with no magnetic shielding around the Linac and reduce the requirements for optimization of magnetic fringe field, simplify design of the high-field magnet, and increase system flexibility.

R&D for a Soft X-Ray Free Electron Laser Facility

R&D for a Soft X-Ray Free Electron Laser Facility A White Paper Report prepared by LBNL and SLAC with contributions from LBNL: David Attwood, John Byrd, John Corlett, Peter Denes, Roger Falcone, Phil Heimann, Wim Leemans, Howard Padmore, Soren Prestemon, Fernando Sannibale, Ross Schlueter, Carl Schroeder, John Staples, Marco Venturini, Tony Warwick, Russell Wells, Russell Wilcox, and Alexander Zholents SLAC: Chris Adolphsen, John Arthur, Uwe Bergmann, Yunhai Cai, Eric Colby, David Dowell, Paul Emma, John Fox, Josef Frisch, John Galayda, Robert Hettel, Zhirong Huang, Nan Phinney, Tom Rabedeau, Tor Raubenheimer, David Reis, John Schmerge, Joachim Stohr, Gennady Stupakov, Bill White, and Dao Xiang Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory June 2009

RF Injector Beam Dynamics Optimization and Injected Beam Energy Constraints for LCLS-II

LCLS-II is a proposed high-repetition rate (>1 MHz) Free Electron Laser (FEL) X-ray light source, based on a CW superconducting linac, to be built at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The injector technology is based on a high-repetition rate RF photoinjector gun developed as part of the Advanced Photoinjector Experiment (APEX) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Exploration of the injector design settings is performed using a multiobjective genetic optimizer to optimize the beam quality at the injector exit (∼100 MeV). In this paper, we describe the current status of LCLS-II injector design optimization, with a focus on the sensitivity of the optimized solutions to the beam energy at the injector exit, which is constrained by the requirements of the downstream laser heater system. INTRODUCTION The LCLS-II project is an upgrade to the existing LCLS X-ray free electron laser (FEL) at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, designed to provide photons between 200 eV and 5 keV at repetition rates up to 1 MHz using a CW superconducting linac [1, 2]. To meet these requirements, the injector must deliver a sequence of high-brightness electron bunches at ∼1 MHz for 20 pC, 100 pC (nominal), or 300 pC charge. The beam will be produced using an RF photogun based on the gun design at APEX [3], with acceleration to ∼100 MeV using eight 9-cell superconducting cavities. An RF buncher is used to provide ballistic bunching before acceleration. A simplified schematic of the injector front-end is shown in Fig. 1. To explore the injector settings, a multi-objective genetic optimizer was previously developed using the codes NSGA-II and ASTRA [4][5]. In this paper, we update these optimization results to include recent changes to the injector design [6]. In addition to changes in the layout, RF buncher, and solenoid design, the injector is now nominally operated with RF cavities 2 and 3 powered off, allowing the first RF cavity to play a role similar to a traditional capture cavity to improve emittance compensation. This results in a trade-off between the final beam energy and optimized injector performance near the nominal beam energy of 100 MeV, which we explore. OPTIMIZATION PROCEDURE Details regarding the optimization procedure and simulation parameters have been described elsewhere [4][5]. The ∗ Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract Nos. DE-AC02-76SF00515, DE-AC02-05CH11231, and the LCLS-II Project. † ChadMitchell@lbl.gov !#

WE‐G‐BRD‐09: Novel MRI Compatible Electron Accelerator for MRI‐Linac Radiotherapy

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The Quantum Efficiency and Thermal Emittance of Metal Photocathodes

< 800 keV > 800 keV Solenoid magnet Warm single-cell RF cavity Cold multi-cell RF cavity

The Development of the Linac Coherent Light Source RF Gun

Purpose: MRI guided radiotherapy is a rapidly growing field; however current linacs are not designed to operate in MRI fringe fields. As such, current MRI- Linac systems require magnetic shielding, impairing MR image quality and system flexibility. Here, we present a bespoke electron accelerator concept with robust operation in in-line magnetic fields. Methods: For in-line MRI-Linac systems, electron gun performance is the major constraint on accelerator performance. To overcome this, we propose placing a cathode directly within the first accelerating cavity. Such a configuration is used extensively in high energy particle physics, but not previously for radiotherapy. Benchmarked computational modelling (CST, Darmstadt, Germany) was employed to design and assess a 5.5 cell side coupled accelerator with a temperature limited thermionic cathode in the first accelerating cell. This simulation was coupled to magnetic fields from a 1T MRI model to assess robustness in magnetic fields for Source to Isocenter Distance between 1 and 2 meters. Performance was compared to a conventional electron gun based system in the same magnetic field. Results: A temperature limited cathode (work function 1.8eV, temperature 1245K, emission constant 60A/K/cm2) will emit a mean current density of 24mA/mm2 (Richardson’s Law). We modeled a circular cathode with radius 2mm and mean current 300mA. Capture efficiency of the device was 43%, resulting in target current of 130 mA. The electron beam had a FWHM of 0.2mm, and mean energy of 5.9MeV (interquartile spread of 0.1MeV). Such an electron beam is suitable for radiotherapy, comparing favourably to conventional systems. This model was robust to operation the MRI fringe field, with a maximum current loss of 6% compared to 85% for the conventional system. Conclusion: The bespoke electron accelerator is robust to operation in in-line magnetic fields. This will enable MRI-Linacs with no accelerator magnetic shielding, and minimise painstaking optimisation of the MRI fringe field. This work was supported by US (NIH) and Australian (NHMRC & Cancer Institute NSW) government research funding. In addition, I would like to thank cancer institute NSW and the Ingham Institute for scholarship support.