Generation of relativistic electron bunches with arbitrary current distribution via transverse-to-longitudinal phase space exchange

• Main Authors: P. Piot, Y.-E Sun, J. G. Power, M. Rihaoui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Physical Society 2011-02-01
• Series: Physical Review Special Topics. Accelerators and Beams
• Online Access: http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.14.022801

We propose a general method for tailoring the current distribution of relativistic electron bunches. The technique relies on a recently proposed method to exchange the longitudinal phase space emittance with one of the transverse emittances. The method consists of transversely shaping the bunch and then converting its transverse profile into a current profile via a transverse-to-longitudinal phase-space-exchange beam line. We show that it is possible to tailor the current profile to follow, in principle, any desired distributions. We demonstrate, via computer simulations, the application of the method to generate trains of microbunches with tunable spacing and linearly ramped current profiles. We also briefly explore potential applications of the technique.