Research Summaries

Back THz Free Electron Laser Diagnostics and Free Electron Laser Simulation

Fiscal Year 2014
Division Graduate School of Engineering & Applied Science
Department Physics
Investigator(s) Colson, William B.
Sponsor Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command (Navy)
Summary in 1976 a new kind of laser was created using a beam of relativistic electrons and a periodic magnetic field to create the radiation. Over the years, Free Electron Laser (FEL) technology has matured and sources are constantly being developed with wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum. One current area of research is the creation of THz FELs. These wavelengths lie in the region of0.1 mm and can be used in a wide variety of applications including identifying hazardous materials and through wall imaging. A current Navy project is to design and build a compact THz FEL utilizing innovative accelerator technologies including a superconducting spoke cavity as the accelerating structure.
An important part of designing an FEL is simulating the expected results. Codes have been developed at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) that model the interaction of the electrons in a pulse with the optical and undulator fields. An important feature of the NPS code is the ability to import particle distributions from external particle tracking codes that model more realistic electron beams.
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Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal