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We present the design and performance of a compact ultrafast electron diffraction instrument. The diffractometer provides a means of examining time-resolved ultrafast dynamical properties of solids. The system's utilization is discussed in terms of instrument parameters and diffraction data from selected condensed matter samples. The difractometer's performance is highlighted in terms of detection sensitivity, instrumental temporal resolution, and the electron beam transverse coherence length. Following specific details of the construction, we present a practical discussion of parameters such as repetition rate and provide advice on general construction approaches for laboratory-based, keV ultrafast electron diffractometers. In addition, design guidance for constructing a compact electron gun source that is well-suited for studying diffraction from hard condensed matter is given. A unique data acquisition scheme, utilizing high laser repetition rates, is presented. Nanyang Technological University Published version This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, BES DMSE (building of the experimental setup, data taking, and analysis), and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF9459 (instrumentation). L.J.W. was supported by the Nanyang Assistant Professorship start-up grant. T.R. received funding from the Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship. B.F. would like to thank the MIT Physics Department for generous support. B.F. acknowledges support from the Welch Foundation (Grant No. L-E001-19921203) and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (TcSUH).

S-band RF-guns are highly developed for production of low emittance relativistic electron bunches, but need powerful klystrons for driving. Here, we present the design and first experimental tests of a compact S-band gun, which can accelerate electrons up to 180 keV powered by only 10 kW from a compact rack-mountable solid-state amplifier. A pin-cathode is used to enhance the RF electric field on the cathode up to 100 MV/m as in large-scale S-band guns. An electron bunch is generated through photoemission off a flat copper surface on the pin excited by a UV laser pulse followed by a focusing solenoid producing a low emittance bunch with 0.1 mm mrad transverse emittance for up to 100 fC bunch charge. We are currently in the conditioning phase of the gun and first experiments show good agreement with simulations. The compact gun will serve three purposes: (i) it can be used directly for ultrafast electron diffraction; (ii) as an injector into a THz booster producing 0.3MeV to 2 MeV electron bunches for ultrafast electron diffraction; (iii) The system in (ii) serves as an injector into a THz linear accelerator producing a 20 MeV beam for the AXSIS X-ray source project., Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand

In the AXSIS project at DESY, we develop compact THz accelerating structures for a table-top x-ray source. Acceleration is achieved by passing the electron beam through a dielectric-loaded waveguide powered by multi-cycle THz radiation. The final electron energy strongly depends on THz-power injected into the LINAC and timing. Thus in first experiments we expect large energy fluctuations and a large range of energies to cover. We designed an electron energy spectrometer for a wide range of final energies covering 5 to 20 MeV in a single-shot. Here, we present the design of an energy spectrometer which uses a compact dipole magnet based on the Halbach array concept to deflect the electron beam through a 180° path intercepted by a Fiber Optic Scintillator (FOS) mounted inside the vacuum perpendicular to the beam. The 180-degree bending geometry provides the possibility of having the focus point of all energies at the same distance from the magnet edge which makes the design simpler and more compact. It also removes the necessity of installing a safety dipole at the end of the accelerator. A slit system at the spectrometer entrance increases resolution to better than 0.2%., Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand

Optics express 30(14), 24186 - 24206 (2022). doi:10.1364/OE.457773, Despite the popularity and ubiquity of the tilted-pulse-front technique for single-cycle terahertz (THz) pulse generation, there is a deficit of experimental studies comprehensively mapping out the dependence of the performance on key setup parameters. The most critical parameters include the pulse-front tilt, the effective length of the pump pulse propagation within the crystal as well as effective length over which the THz beam interacts with the pump before it spatially walks off. Therefore, we investigate the impact of these parameters on the conversion efficiency and the shape of the THz beam via systematically scanning the 5D parameter space spanned by pump fluence, pulse-front-tilt, crystal-position (2D), and the pump size experimentally. We verify predictions so far only made by theory regarding the optimum interaction lengths and map out the impact of cascading on the THz radiation generation process. Furthermore, distortions imposed on the spatial THz beam profile for larger than optimum interaction lengths are observed. Finally, we identify the most sensitive parameters and, based on our findings, propose a robust optimization strategy for tilted-pulse-front THz setups. These findings are relevant for all THz strong-field applications in high demand of robust high-energy table-top single-cycle THz sources such as THz plasmonics, high-harmonic generation in solids as well as novel particle accelerators and beam manipulators., Published by Optica Publishing Group, Washington, DC

Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC, Bangkok, Thailand, 12 Jun 2022 - 17 Jun 2022; [Geneva] : JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland 625-627 (2022). doi:10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2022-MOPOMS003, Scaling the RF-accelerator concept to terahertz (THz) frequencies brings several compelling advantages, including compactness, intrinsic timing between the photoemission and driving field sources, and high field gradients associated with the short THz wavelength and high breakdown threshold. Recent demonstrations of such THz powered accelerators relied on two counter-propagating single-cycle THz pulses. However, to achieve high energy gains in the acceleration process high energy THz pulses are needed which in turn require complex optical setups. Here, we present on the development of a matchbox sized multi-layered accelerator designed to boost the 50 keV output of a DC electron gun to energies of ~400 keV that only requires a single THz pulse to be powered. An integrated tunable mirror inside the structure interferes the front of the driving THz pulse with its rear part such that the field in the interaction region is optimized for efficient acceleration. This reduces the complexity of the required optical setup. Such a compact booster accelerator is very promising as electron source in ultrafast electron diffraction experiments and as booster stage prior to THz based LINACs., Published by JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland, [Geneva]

All-optical terahertz (THz) based compact accelerators promise to enable new science due to unique features such as reduced space charge broadening of the generated electron bunches and reduced timing-jitter. While prototypes of THz based devices have been demonstrated and showed exceptional capabilities to accelerate and manipulate electron beams on sub-ps timescales, development of practical THz-powered photoguns, however, has lagged due to challenges associated with the physical miniaturization and the larger THz energies required for the driving pulses. Here, we present on the progress of developing a modular all-optically driven setup that allows to power multi-layered electron photo-guns with the potential to reach several hundreds of keV. The modular concept enables convenient exchange of accelerating structures allowing rapid prototyping. As a first prototype, a 3-layered structure designed to reach 200 keV electron energy is presented. Such miniaturized electron sources are promising for seeding compact THz driven accelerators or to deliver ultrafast bunches in electron diffraction experiments.

New compact particle acceleration structures, including but not limited to plasma, THz and direct laser driven accelerators, have in common that they cover a wide energy range of potential final energies and often show a large energy spread. Moreover, they may initially have a rather large emittance. To analyze the energy range of a single shot and/or to deflect the beam to safely dump the electrons away from an end-station requires an electron kicker covering a large energy range. Here, we present a magnetic dipole structure based on a 2D Halbach array. For the current experimental test accelerator in AXSIS, an electron beam in the energy range from 4 to 20 MeV is deflected by 90 degree and energetically dispersed. In direct contrast to a simple magnetic dipole, an array of cubic magnet blocks with tailored magnetization directions allows a focusing of the beam for both longitudinal and transverse directions at 90 degree bend. A generic algorithm optimizes the magnetic field array to the predefined deflection angle and divergence. The modular array structure, in combination with the algorithm enables a simple exchange of magnets to adapt for different beam parameters., Proceedings of the 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2022, Bangkok, Thailand

[Ebook] 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference : June 12-17, 2022, Impact Forum, Muangthong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand : conference proceedings / Chanwattana, Thakonwat , [Geneva] : JACoW Publishing, July 2022, IPAC'22 13th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC'22, Bangkok, Thailand, 12 Jun 2022 - 17 Jun 2022; [Geneva] : JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland 621-624 (2022). doi:doi:10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2022-MOPOMS001, We report on the design and progress in implementing a THz-driven relativistic electron accelerator and associated X-ray source, the AXSIS Facility at DESY. We have developed a full layout of the machine based on a THz gun followed by a multi-cycle dielectric loaded metal waveguide THz linear accelerator to generate 20 MeV level, 10 fs electron bunches. The required THz pulse energies are on the mJ-level for the gun and multi-10-mJ-level for the THz linac. Customized laser technologies have been developed allowing for the generation of these pulses up to 1 kHz repetition rate. The generated electron bunches are then focused into a counter propagating optical pulse ’optical undulator’ to generate X-rays in the 6-7 keV range. We will discuss the overall layout of the machine, status of its implementation and technical challenges in the different components as well as diagnostics of this new type of accelerator and X-ray source., Published by JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland, [Geneva]

Proceedings of the 12th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2021, Campinas, SP, Brazil 12th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC 2021, Campinas, Brazil, 24 Nov 2021 - 28 Nov 2021; JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland 2983-2985 (2021). doi:doi:10.18429/JACoW-IPAC2021-WEPAB158, Novel accelerator concepts such as all-optical THz based compact accelerators promise to enable new science due to unique features such as reduced timing-jitter and improved space-charge broadening of the generated electron bunches. However, multi-keV electron photo-guns based on short single-cycle THz pulses for acceleration have not been demonstrated experimentally so far. Here, we present a modular THz-driven electron gun with both tunable interaction length and output orifice allowing optimization of the sub-mm interaction volume. First extraction of multi-keV electrons is demonstrated and the parameter space as well as resulting performance of the THz-driven gun by varying the timing of the two single-cycle THz pulses and the UV photo-excitation pulse are explored. Such compact gun prototypes are not only promising as injectors for compact THz-based LINACs but also as source for ultrafast electron diffraction experiments., Published by JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland

The dedicated accelerator R facility SINBAD at DESY hosts the AXSIS accelerator. This project is funded by the European Research Council to develop a compact source for attosecond serial X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy. For that purpose, in one of the arcs of the SINBAD facility and the neighboring laser labs, an accelerator research site is being constructed where a fully THz-driven accelerator (electron gun and linac, 30MeV) will be installed. The current status of the hardware installation of the electron beam accelerator is presented. Furthermore, the required radio-protection measures and maximum beam parameters are presented. In this contribution the commissioning plans and the staging of the beam operation for the accelerator complex will be shown and discussed in detail., Proceedings of the 10th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2019, Melbourne, Australia