The Advanced Photoinjector Experiment (APEX) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is dedicated to the development of a high-brightness high-repetition rate (MHz-class) electron injector for x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) and other applications where high repetition rates and high brightness are simultaneously required. The injector is based on a new concept rf gun utilizing a normal-conducting (NC) cavity resonating in the VHF band at 186 MHz, and operating in continuous wave (cw) mode in conjunction with high quantum efficiency photocathodes capable of delivering the required charge at MHz repetition rates with available laser technology. The APEX activities are staged in three phases. In phase 0, the NC cw gun is built and tested to demonstrate the major milestones to validate the gun design and performance. Also, starting in phase 0 and continuing in phase I, different photocathodes are tested at the gun energy and at full repetition rate for validating candidate materials to operate in a high-repetition rate FEL. In phase II, a room-temperature pulsed linac is added for accelerating the beam at several tens of MeV to reduce space charge effects and allow the measurement of the brightness of the beam from the gun when integrated in an injector scheme. The installation of the phase 0 beam line and the commissioning of the VHF gun are completed, phase I components are under fabrication, and initial design and specification of components and layout for phase II are under way. This paper presents the phase 0 commissioning results with emphasis on the experimental milestones that have successfully demonstrated the APEX gun capability of operating at the required performance.

A high-yield D-T neutron generator has been developed for neutron interrogation in homeland security applications such as cargo screening. The generator has been designed as a sealed tube with a performance goal of producing 5·10 11 n/s over a long lifetime. The key generator components developed are a radio-frequency (RF) driven ion source and a beam-

LBNL is pursuing design studies and the scientific program for a facility dedicated to the production of xray pulses with ultra-short time duration, for application in dynamical studies of processes in physics, biology, and chemistry. The proposed x-ray facility has the short x-ray pulse length (~60 fs FWHM) necessary to study very fast dynamics, high flux (up to approximately 10 11 photons/sec/0.1%BW) to study weakly scattering systems, and tuneability over 1-12 keV photon energy. The hard x-ray photon production section of the machine accomodates seven 2-m long undulators. Design studies for longer wavelength sources, using high-gain harmonic generation, are in progress. The x-ray pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz is matched to studies of dynamical processes (initiated by ultra-short laser pulses) that typically have a long recovery time or are not generally cyclic or reversible and need time to allow relaxation, replacement, or flow of the sample. The technique for producing ultra-short x-ray pulses uses relatively long electron bunches to minimise high-peak-current collective effects, and the ultimate x-ray duration is achieved by a combination of bunch manipulation and optical compression. Synchronization of x-ray pulses to sample excitation signals is expected to be of order 50 -100 fs. Techniques for making use of the recirculating geometry to provide beam-based signals from early passes through the machine are being studied.

Currently proposed energy recovery linac and high average power free electron laser projects require electron beam sources that can generate up to ∼ 1 nC bunch charges with less than 1 mm mrad normalized emittance at high repetition rates (greater than ∼ 1 MHz). Proposed sources are based around either high voltage DC or microwave RF guns, each with its particular set of technological limits and system complications. We propose an approach for a gun fully based on mature RF and mechanical technology that greatly diminishes many of such complications. The concepts for such a source as well as the present RF and mechanical design are described. Simulations that demonstrate the beam quality preservation and transport capability of an injector scheme based on such a gun are also presented.

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We present an updated design for a proposed source of ultra-fast synchrotron radiation pulses based on a recirculating superconducting linac [1,2], in particular the incorporation of EUV and soft x-ray production. The project has been named LUX -Linac-based Ultrafast X-ray facility. The source produces intense x-ray pulses with duration of 10-100 fs at a 10 kHz repetition rate, with synchronization of 10's fs, optimized for the study of ultra-fast dynamics. The photon range covers the EUV to hard x-ray spectrum by use of seeded harmonic generation in undulators, and a specialized technique for ultra-shortpulse photon production in the 1-10 keV range. Highbrightness rf photocathodes produce electron bunches which are optimized either for coherent emission in freeelectron lasers, or to provide a large x/y emittance ration and small vertical emittance which allows for manipulation to produce short-pulse hard x-rays. An injector linac accelerates the beam to 120 MeV, and is followed by four passes through a 600-720 MeV recirculating linac. We outline the major technical components of the proposed facility.

A high repetition rate, MHz-class, high-brightness electron source is a key element in future high-repetition-rate x-ray free electron laser-based light sources. The VHF-gun, a novel low frequency radio-frequency gun, is the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) response to that need. The gun design is based on a normal conducting, single cell cavity resonating at 186 MHz in the VHF band and capable of continuous wave operation while still delivering the high accelerating fields at the cathode required for the high brightness performance. The VHF-gun was fabricated and successfully commissioned in the framework of the Advanced Photo-injector EXperiment, an injector built at LBNL to demonstrate the capability of the gun to deliver the required beam quality. The basis for the selection of the VHF-gun technology, novel design features, and fabrication techniques are described.

Calcium ions (Ca2+) entering cilia through the ciliary voltage-gated calcium channels (CaV) during the action potential causes reversal of the ciliary power stroke and backward swimming in Paramecium tetraurelia. How calcium is returned to the resting level is not yet clear. Our focus is on calcium pumps as a possible mechanism. There are 23 P. tetraurelia genes for calcium pumps that are members of the family of plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPases (PMCAs). They have domains homologous to those found in mammalian PMCAs. Of the 13 pump proteins previously identified in cilia, ptPMCA2a and ptPMCA2b are most abundant in the cilia. We used RNAi to examine which PMCA might be involved in regulating intraciliary Ca2+ after the action potential. RNAi for only ptPMCA2a and ptPMCA2b causes cells to significantly prolong their backward swimming, which indicates that Ca2+ extrusion in the cilia is impaired when these PMCAs are depleted. We used immunoprecipitations (IP) to find that ptPMCA2a and ptPMCA2b are co-immunoprecipitated with the CaV channel α1 subunits that are found only in the cilia. We used iodixanol (OptiPrep) density gradients to show that ptPMCA2a and ptPMCA2b and CaV1c are found in the same density fractions. These results suggest that ptPMCA2a and ptPMCA2b are located in the proximity of ciliary CaV channels.