Simulations of the Rocketdyne free-electron laser

Rocketdyne is assembling a high-brightness 78 MeV free-electron laser (FEL). The authors analyze the performance expected of this laser using the Rocketdyne three-dimensional simulation code FELOPT. An outline of the device, description of the code, and a presentation of some of the simulation results form the basis of this study. After sketching the details of the FEL, the code description is given in two parts: a description of the treatment of FEL interaction and then an outline of the algorithm used in free-space wave-optics propagation. Performance calculations stress parametric sensitivities and use of a prebuncher