Ultrafast electron probes are powerful tools, complementary to x-ray free-electron lasers, used to study structural dynamics in material, chemical, and biological sciences. High brightness, relativistic electron beams with femtosecond pulse duration can resolve details of the dynamic processes on atomic time and length scales. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory recently launched the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) and microscopy Initiative aiming at developing the next generation ultrafast electron scattering instruments. As the first stage of the Initiative, a mega-electron-volt (MeV) UED system has been constructed and commissioned to serve ultrafast science experiments and instrumentation development. The system operates at 120-Hz repetition rate with outstanding performance. In this paper, we report on the SLAC MeV UED system and its performance, including the reciprocal space resolution, temporal resolution, and machine stability. C 2015 AIP Publishing LLC. [http://dx

Very low frequency communication systems (3 kHz–30 kHz) enable applications not feasible at higher frequencies. However, the highest radiation efficiency antennas require size at the scale of the wavelength (here, >1 km), making portable transmitters extremely challenging. Facilitating transmitters at the 10 cm scale, we demonstrate an ultra-low loss lithium niobate piezoelectric electric dipole driven at acoustic resonance that radiates with greater than 300x higher efficiency compared to the previous state of the art at a comparable electrical size. A piezoelectric radiating element eliminates the need for large impedance matching networks as it self-resonates at the acoustic wavelength. Temporal modulation of this resonance demonstrates a device bandwidth greater than 83x beyond the conventional Bode-Fano limit, thus increasing the transmitter bitrate while still minimizing losses. These results will open new applications for portable, electrically small antennas.

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) klystron group is currently designing, fabricating and testing 11.424 GHz klystrons with peak output powers from 50 to 75 MW at 1 to 2 µs rf pulsewidths as part of an effort to realize components necessary for the construction of the Next Linear Collider (NLC). In order to eliminate the projected operational-year energy bill for klystron solenoids, Periodic Permanent Magnet (PPM) focusing has been employed on our latest X-band klystron designs. A PPM beam tester has operated at the same repetition rate, voltage and average beam power required for a 75 MW NLC klystron. Prototype 50 and 75 MW PPM klystrons were built and tested during 1996 and 1997 which operate from 50 to 70 MW at efficiencies greater than 55 %. Construction and testing of 75 MW research klystrons will continue while the design and reliability is perfected. This paper will discuss the design of these PPM klystrons and the results of testing to date along with future plans for the development of a low-cost Design for Manufacture (DFM) 75 MW klystron and invitation for industry participation.

The beam quality and operational requirements for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) currently being constructed at SLAC are exceptional, requiring the design of a new RF photocathode gun for the electron source. Based on operational experience at SLAC's GTF and SDL and ATF at BNL as well as other laboratories, the 1.6cell s-band (2856MHz) gun was chosen to be the best electron source for the LCLS, however a significant redesign was necessary to achieve the challenging parameters. Detailed 3-D analysis and design was used to produce near-perfect rotationally symmetric rf fields to achieve the emittance requirement. In addition, the thermo-mechanical design allows the gun to operate at 120Hz and a 140MV/m cathode field, or to an average power dissipation of 4kW. Both average and pulsed heating issues are addressed in the LCLS gun design. The first LCLS gun is now fabricated and has been operated with high-power RF. The results of these high-power tests are presented and discussed.

A design for an X-band rf photoinjector that was developed jointly by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is presented. The photoinjector is based around a 5.59 cell rf gun that has state-of-the-art features including: elliptical contoured irises; improved mode separation; an optimized initial half cell length; a racetrack input coupler; and coupling that balances pulsed heating with cavity fill time. Radio-frequency and beam dynamics modeling have been done using a combination of codes including PARMELA, HFSS, IMPACT-T, ASTRA, and the ACE3P suite of codes developed at SLAC. The impact of lower gradient operation, magnet misalignment, solenoid multipole errors, beam offset, mode beating, wakefields, and beam line symmetry have been analyzed and are described. Fabrication and testing plans at both LLNL and SLAC are discussed.

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There are many challenges in the design of the normalconducting portion of the ILC positron injector system such as achieving adequate cooling with the high RF and particle loss heating, and sustaining high accelerator gradients during millisecond-long pulses in a strong magnetic field. The proposed design for the positron injector contains both standing-wave and traveling-wave L-band accelerator structures for high RF efficiency, low cost and ease of fabrication. This paper presents results from several studies including particle energy deposition for both undulator based and conventional positron sources, cooling system design, accelerator structure optimization, RF pulse heating, cavity frequency stabilization, and RF feed system design. RF STRUCTURES AND PARAMETERSDue to the extremely high energy deposition from positrons, electrons, photons and neutrons behind the positron target, the 1.3 GHz pre-accelerator has to use normal conducting structures up to an energy of 250 MeV. A conceptual design of a positron injector for the TESLA linear collider has been proposed and carefully studied.