Pulse compression in radio frequency photoinjectors - Applications to advanced accelerators

While RF photoinjectors are an excellent source of high brightness electron beams, there are constraints to tying together the expected emittance and peak current performance of a given photoinjector system. These constraints, which arise from the complicated dynamics of the electrons due to the interplay of RF and space-charge forces within the photoinjector, tend to favor lower peak current operation. For some ultimate uses of photoinjector beams, such as linear collider test beams, wakefield accelerators, and free-electron lasers (FEL's), one may desire much higher peak currents. In this case, an inexpensive and reliable method for producing extremely short high-current electron bunches is to use magnetic compression. We examine this scheme analytically and by computer simulation. Many applications are illustrated, including the TESLA Test Facility/FEL injector, ultra-high current beams for plasma wakefields and generation of femtosecond electron pulses for injection into short wavelength laser-based accelerators. It is shown that the injection timing jitter associated with the laser can be nearly eliminated using this scheme, making it an indispensable component in many of the advanced accelerator injectors we consider.