A high-power millimeter-wave sheet beam free-electron laser amplifier

The results of experiments with a short period (9.6 mm) wiggler sheet electron beam (1.0 mm×2.0 cm) millimeter-wave free electron laser (FEL) amplifier are presented. This FEL amplifier utilized a strong wiggler field for sheet beam confinement in the narrow beam dimension and an offset-pole side-focusing technique for the wide dimension beam confinement. The beam analysis herein includes finite emittance and space-charge effects. High-current beam propagation was achieved as a result of extensive analytical studies and experimental optimization. A design optimization resulted in a low sensitivity to structure errors and beam velocity spread, as well as a low required beam energy. A maximum gain of 24 dB was achieved with a 1-kW injected signal power at 86 GHz, a 450-kV beam voltage, 17-A beam current, 3.8-kG wiggler magnetic field, and a 74-period wiggler length. The maximum gain with a one-watt injected millimeter-wave power was observed to be over 30 dB. The lower gain at higher injection power level indicates that the device has approached saturation. The device was studied over a broad range or experimental parameters. The experimental results have a good agreement with expectations from a one-dimensional simulation code. The successful operation of this device has proven the feasibility of the original concept and demonstrated the advantages of the sheet beam FEL amplifier. The results of the studies will provide guidelines for the future development of sheet beam FELs and/or other kinds of sheet beam devices