Experimental status of the 2 MeV 17 GHz RF gun at MIT

Summary form only given. High frequency photocathode injectors (RF Guns) are important as sources for ultra-relativistic colliders due to their high brightness electron bunch output. A 3 cell 17 GHz RF Gun designed and built at Haimson Research Corporation (HRC) is being tested at MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center. A 1 ps, 15 micro-joule laser pulse is injected into the back of the first cell in order to emit the electron bunch. The driving power into the RF Gun is supplied by an HRC 17 GHz relativistic klystron and is coupled into the middle cell by dual RF ports. This cell has a racetrack geometry design in order to achieve a highly symmetrized TM/sub 01/ pi-mode operation which is necessary for reducing the emittance. The diagnostic setup consists of a slit array, YAG screen and a CCD camera for beam imaging and emittance measurement, and deflecting coils and a Faraday Cup for energy and bunch charge measurement, respectively. The RF Gun is currently processed to input power of 1 MW for 70 ns. Our goal is to drive it up to 3 MW and 100 ns pulses to produce a peak axial electric field of 200 MV/m in its cells and provide a 2 MeV energy gain. An update on the experimental results will be presented.