We reply to Terzic and Krafft’s forgoing Comment [Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams, Comment on “Controlling the spectral shape of nonlinear Thomson scattering with proper laser chirping” 19 (2016)]. We disagree with the conclusion of the Comment regarding the novelty of solutions and the citations presented in our paper.

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) are modern research tools in disciplines such as biology, material science, chemistry, and physics. Besides the standard operation that aims at minimizing the bandwidth of the produced XFEL radiation, there is a strong scientific demand to produce large-bandwidth XFEL pulses for several applications such as nanocrystallography, stimulated Raman spectroscopy, and multiwavelength anomalous diffraction. We present a self-consistent method that maximizes the XFEL pulse bandwidth by systematically maximizing the energy chirp of the electron beam at the undulator entrance. This is achieved by optimizing the compression scheme and the electron distribution at the source in an iterative back-and-forward tracking. Start-to-end numerical simulations show that a relative bandwidth of 3.25% full-width can be achieved for the hard x-ray pulses in the SwissFEL case.

We develop a method to generate a long pulse train of few-cycle coherent radiation by modulating an electron beam with a high power laser. The large energy modulation disperses the beam in a radiating undulator and leads to the production of phase-locked few-cycle coherent radiation pulses. These pulses are produced at a high harmonic of the modulating laser, and are longitudinally separated by the modulating laser wavelength. We discuss an analytical model for this scheme and investigate the temporal and spectral properties of this radiation. This model is compared with numerical simulation results using the unaveraged code Puffin. We examine various harmful effects and how they might be avoided, as well as a possible experimental realization of this scheme.

The production of GeV electron beam with narrow energy spread and high brightness is investigated using particle-in-cell simulations. A controlled electron injection scheme and a method for phase-space manipulation in a laser plasma accelerator are found to be essential. The injection is triggered by the evolution of two copropagating laser pulses near a sharp vacuum-plasma transition. The collection volume is well confined and the injected bunch is isolated in phase space. By tuning the parameters of the laser pulses, the parameters of the injected electron bunch, such as the bunch length, energy spread, emittance and charge, can be adjusted. Manipulating the phase-space rotation with the rephasing technique, the injected electron bunch can be accelerated to GeV level while keeping relative energy spread below 0.5% and transverse emittance below $1.0\mu \mathrm{m}$. The results present a very promising way to drive coherent x-ray sources.

The proposed electron-hadron collider (eRHIC) to be built at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) will allow the collisions of 20 GeV polarized electrons with 250 GeV polarized protons, or $100\mathrm{GeV}/\mathrm{n}$ polarized ${{}^3\mathrm{He}}^{+2}$ ions, or other unpolarized ion species. The large value of the anomalous magnetic moment of the ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ nucleus $G_{\mathrm{He}}=(g-2)/2=-4.184$ (where $g$ is the $g$-factor of the ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ nuclear spin) combined with the peculiar layout of the transfer line which transports the beam bunches from the Alternate Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) makes the transfer and injection of polarized ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ ions from AGS to RHIC (AtR) a special case as we explain in the paper. Specifically in this paper we calculate the stable spin direction of a polarized ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ beam at the exit of the AtR line which is also the injection point of RHIC, and we discuss a simple modifications of the AtR beam-transfer-line, to perfectly match the stable spin direction of the injected polarized ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ beam to that of the circulating beam, at the injection point of RHIC.

We present the design of a photon-photon collider based on conventional Compton gamma sources for the observation of elastic $\gamma \gamma$ scattering. Two symmetric electron beams, generated by photocathodes and accelerated in linacs, produce two primary gamma rays through Compton backscattering with two high energy lasers. The elastic photon-photon scattering is analyzed by start-to-end simulations from the photocathodes to the detector. A new Monte Carlo code has been developed ad hoc for the counting of the QED events. Realistic numbers of the secondary gamma yield, obtained by using the parameters of existing or approved Compton devices, a discussion of the feasibility of the experiment and of the nature of the background are presented.

This paper reports the first high power tests of hybrid photonic band gap (PBG) accelerator structures. Three hybrid PBG (HPBG) structures were designed, built and tested at 17.14 GHz. Each structure had a triangular lattice array with 60 inner sapphire rods and 24 outer copper rods sandwiched between copper disks. The dielectric PBG band gap map allows the unique feature of overmoded operation in a ${\mathrm{TM}}_{02}$ mode, with suppression of both lower order modes, such as the ${\mathrm{TM}}_{11}$ mode, as well as higher order modes. The use of sapphire rods, which have negligible dielectric loss, required inclusion of the dielectric birefringence in the design. The three structures were designed to sequentially reduce the peak surface electric field. Simulations showed relatively high surface fields at the triple point as well as in any gaps between components in the clamped assembly. The third structure used sapphire rods with small pin extensions at each end and obtained the highest gradient of $19\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{m}$, corresponding to a surface electric field of $78\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{m}$, with a breakdown probability of $5\times {10}^{-1}$ per pulse per meter for a 100-ns input power pulse. Operation at a gradient above $20\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{m}$ led to runaway breakdowns with extensive light emission and eventual damage. For all three structures, multipactor light emission was observed at gradients well below the breakdown threshold. This research indicated that multipactor triggered at the triple point limited the operational gradient of the hybrid structure.

Recent studies by Romanenko et al. revealed that cooling down a superconducting cavity under a large spatial temperature gradient decreases the amount of trapped flux and leads to reduction of the residual surface resistance. In the present paper, the flux expulsion ratio and the trapped-flux-induced surface resistance of a large-grain cavity cooled down under a spatial temperature gradient up to $80\mathrm{K}/\mathrm{m}$ are studied under various applied magnetic fields from 5 to $20\mu \mathrm{T}$. We show the flux expulsion ratio improves as the spatial temperature gradient increases, independent of the applied magnetic field: our results support and enforce the previous studies. We then analyze all rf measurement results obtained under different applied magnetic fields together by plotting the trapped-flux-induced surface resistance normalized by the applied magnetic field as a function of the spatial temperature gradient. All the data can be fitted by a single curve, which defines an empirical formula for the trapped-flux-induced surface resistance as a function of the spatial temperature gradient and applied magnetic field. The formula can fit not only the present results but also those obtained by Romanenko et al. previously. The sensitivity $r_{\mathrm{fl}}$ of surface resistance from trapped magnetic flux of fine-grain and large-grain niobium cavities and the origin of $dT/ds$ dependence of $R_{\mathrm{fl}}/B_a$ are also discussed.

Laser based positron represents a new particle source with short pulse duration and high charge density. Positron production based on laser wakefield electron acceleration (LWFA) has been investigated theoretically in this paper. Analytical expressions for positron spectra and yield have been obtained through a combination of LWFA and cascade shower theories. The maximum positron yield and corresponding converter thickness have been optimized as a function of driven laser power. Under the optimal condition, high energy ($>100\mathrm{MeV}$) positron yield up to $5\times {10}^{11}$ can be produced by high power femtosecond lasers at ELI-NP. The percentage of positrons shows that a quasineutral electron-positron jet can be generated by setting the converter thickness greater than 5 radiation lengths.

An ultrafast kicker system is being developed for the energy recovery linac (ERL) based electron circulator cooler ring (CCR) in the proposed Jefferson Lab Electron Ion Collider (JLEIC, previously named MEIC). In the CCR, the injected electron bunches can be recirculated while performing ion cooling for 10–30 turns before the extraction, thus reducing the recirculation beam current in the ERL to $1/10-1/30$ ($150\mathrm{mA}-50\mathrm{mA}$) of the cooling beam current (up to 1.5 A). Assuming a bunch repetition rate of 476.3 MHz and a recirculating factor of 10 in the CCR, the kicker is required to operate at a pulse repetition rate of 47.63 MHz with pulse width of around 2 ns, so that only every 10th bunch in the CCR will experience a transverse kick while the rest of the bunches will not be disturbed. Such a kicker pulse can be synthesized by ten harmonic modes of the 47.63 MHz kicker pulse repetition frequency, using up to four quarter wavelength resonator (QWR) based deflecting cavities. In this paper, several methods to synthesize such a kicker waveform will be discussed and a comparison of their beam dynamics performance is made using ELEGANT. Four QWR cavities are envisaged with high transverse shunt impedance requiring less than 100 W of total rf power for a Flat-Top kick pulse. Multipole fields due to the asymmetry of this type of cavity are analyzed. The transverse emittance growth due to the sextupole component is simulated in ELEGANT. Off-axis injection and extraction issues and beam optics using a multicavity kick-drift scheme will also be discussed.

In order for sources of coherent high brightness and intensity THz and x-ray radiation to be accepted by university or industrial R&D laboratories, truly compact, high current and efficient particle accelerators are required. The demand for compactness and efficiency can be satisfied by superconducting rf energy recovery linear accelerators (SRF ERL) allowing effectively minimizing the footprint and maximizing the efficiency of the system. However such setups are affected by regenerative beam break-up (BBU) instabilities which limit the beam current and may terminate the beam transport as well as energy recuperation. In this paper we suggest and discuss a SRF ERL with asymmetric configuration of resonantly coupled accelerating and decelerating cavities. In this type of SRF ERL an electron bunch is passing through accelerating and decelerating cavities once and, as we show in this case, the regenerative BBU instability can be minimized allowing high currents to be achieved. We study the BBU start current in such an asymmetric ERL via analytical and numerical models and discuss the properties of such a system.

We develop a symplectic charged particle tracking method for phase space coordinates and polarization in all electric storage rings. Near the magic energy, the spin precession tune is proportional to the fractional momentum deviation ${\delta }_m$ from the magic energy, and the amplitude of the radial and longitudinal spin precession is proportional to $\eta /{\delta }_m$, where $\eta$ is the electric dipole moment for an initially vertically polarized beam. The method can be used to extract the electron electric dipole moment of a charged particle by employing narrow band frequency analysis of polarization around the magic energy.

We propose a novel scheme to generate attosecond soft x rays in a self-seeded free-electron laser (FEL) suitable for enabling attosecond spectroscopic investigations. A time-energy chirped electron bunch with additional sinusoidal energy modulation is adopted to produce a short seed pulse through a self-seeding monochromator. This short seed pulse, together with high electron current spikes and a cascaded delay setup, enables a high-efficiency FEL with a fresh bunch scheme. Simulations show that using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) parameters, soft x-ray pulses with a FWHM of 260 attoseconds and a peak power of 0.5 TW can be obtained. This scheme also has the feature of providing a stable central wavelength determined by the self-seeding monochromator.

The extra low-energy antiproton ring (ELENA) is a CERN particle decelerator with the purpose to deliver antiprotons at lowest energies aiming to enhance the study of antimatter. The hexagonal shaped ring with a circumference of about 30 m will decelerate antiprotons from momenta of 100 to $13.7\mathrm{MeV}/\mathrm{c}$. In this paper, the design approach for a magnet system for such a machine is presented. Due to the extra-low beam rigidity, the design of the magnet system is especially challenging because even small fields, arising for example from residual magnetization and hysteresis, have a major impact on beam dynamics. In total, seven prototype magnets of three different magnet types have been built and tested. This paper outlines challenges, describes solutions for the design of the magnet system and discusses the results of the prototypes.

We introduce a solution for producing ultrashort ($\sim \mathrm{fs}$) high charge ($\sim \mathrm{pC}$) from ultracompact guns utilizing single-cycle THz pulses. We show that the readily available THz pulses with energies as low as $20\mu \mathrm{J}$ are sufficient to generate multi-10 keV electron bunches. Moreover, it is demonstrated that THz energies of 2 mJ are sufficient to generate relativistic electron bunches with higher than 2 MeV energy. The high acceleration gradients possible in the structures provide 30 fs electron bunches at 30 keV energy and 45 fs bunches at 2 MeV energy. These structures will underpin future devices for strong field THz physics in general and miniaturized electron guns, in which the high fields combined with the short pulse duration enable electron beams with ultrahigh brightness.

Which gain and phase have to be set for a bunch-by-bunch transverse damper, and at which chromaticity is it better to stay? These questions are considered for three models: the two-particle model with possible quadrupole wake, the author’s nested head-tail (NHT) model with the broadband impedance, and the NHT with the LHC impedance model. Details of 2D areas of stability in the chromaticity-intensity and chromaticity-gain planes and possibilities to use them are discussed. It is shown that resistive feedbacks may generate asymmetry of the tune shift distribution, which requires positively-shifted stability diagrams.

Storage ring light sources aim for high operational reliability. Very often beam availability is used as an operation metric to measure the reliability. A survey of several light sources reveals that the calculation of availability varies significantly between facilities. This complicates useful comparisons of reliability. Furthermore the beam availability does not provide insight regarding reliability of beam characteristics such as orbit and beam size stability. The authors propose specific metrics to evaluate the reliability of storage ring light sources; these metrics allow a detailed and meaningful comparison across facilities. Such comparisons are useful to further optimize the reliability of storage ring light source facilities.

The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a long pulse spallation neutron source that is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden. A considerable fraction of the 22 planned instruments extend as far as 75–150 m from the source. In such long beam lines, misalignment between neutron guide segments can decrease the neutron transmission significantly. In addition to a random misalignment from installation tolerances, the ground on which ESS is built can be expected to sink with time, and thus shift the neutron guide segments further away from the ideal alignment axis in a systematic way. These systematic errors are correlated to the ground structure, position of buildings and shielding installation. Since the largest deformation is expected close to the target, even short instruments might be noticeably affected. In this study, the effect of this systematic misalignment on short and long ESS beam lines is analyzed, and a possible mitigation by overillumination of subsequent guide sections investigated.