36 research outputs found
Revision of (sub)nanosecond pulser for IRI Van de Graaff electron accelerator aided by field propagation calculations
No full textThe shorted air line stub used for subnanosecond pulsing of the grounded-grid cathode gun structure of the IRI 3 MV Van de Graaff electron accelerator is revised. Three-dimensional high-frequency field propagation calculations provide better insight into the performance of different geometrical shapes. Effects on rise- and decay time, and ringing on the output pulses are considered. Practical possibilities for improvement are discussed. Comparison with sampling measurements on several device modifications confirms the reliability of the calculations. The calculation method is subsequently used as design aid for the construction of a 1 ns device using a quartz loaded shorted stub to fit into the geometry of the existing variable pulse length unit. Capabilities for short pulsing of the accelerator are improved and extended by application of the results obtained
An ultracold electron source as an injector for a compact SASE-FEL
No full textUltracold electron sources based on near-threshold photoionization of laser-cooled atomic gases can produce ultrashort electron pulses with a brightness potentially exceeding conventional pulsed electron sources. They are presently being developed for single shot ultrafast electron diffraction, where a bunch charge of 100 fC is sufficient. For application as an injector for x-ray free electron lasers (FEL) a larger bunch charge is generally required. Here we present preliminary calculations of an ultracold electron source operating at bunch charges up to 1 pC. We discuss the relevant bunch degradation processes that occur when the charge is increased. Using general particle tracer tracking simulations we show that bunches can be produced of sufficient quality for driving a 1 Å self amplified spontaneous emission free electron laser (SASE-FEL) at 1.3 GeV electron energy. In addition we speculate on the possibility of using the ultracold source for driving a 15 MeV SASE-FEL in Compton backscatter configuration into the quantum FEL regime
RF Compression of sub-relativistic space-charge-dominated electron bunches for single-shot femtosecond electron diffraction
No full textAbstract only
Ultracold electron source for single-shot, ultrafast electron diffraction
No full textUltrafast electron diffraction (UED) enables studies of structural dynamics at atomic length and timescales, i.e., 0.1 nm and 0.1 ps, in single-shot mode. At present UED experiments are based on femtosecond laser photoemission from solid state cathodes. These photoemission sources perform excellently, but are not sufficiently bright for single-shot studies of, for example, biomolecular samples. We propose a new type of electron source, based on near-threshold photoionization of a laser-cooled and trapped atomic gas. The electron temperature of these sources can be as low as 10 K, implying an increase in brightness by orders of magnitude. We investigate a setup consisting of an ultracold electron source and standard radio-frequency acceleration techniques by GPT tracking simulations. The simulations use realistic fields and include all pairwise Coulomb interactions. We show that in this setup 120 keV, 0.1 pC electron bunches can be produced with a longitudinal emittance sufficiently small for enabling sub-100 fs bunch lengths at 1% relative energy spread. A transverse root-mean-square normalized emittance of epsilon(x) = 10 nm is obtained, significantly better than from photoemission sources. Correlations in transverse phase-space indicate that the transverse emittance can be improved even further, enabling single-shot studies of biomolecular samples
Progress in 3D Space-charge Calculations in the GPT Code
No full textThe mesh-based 3D space-charge routine in the GPT (General Particle Tracer, Pulsar Physics) code scales linearly with the number of particles in terms of CPU time and allows a million particles to be tracked on a normal PC. The crucial ingredient of the routine is a non-equidistant multi-grid Poisson solver to calculate the electrostatic potential in the rest frame of the bunch. The solver has been optimized for very high and very low aspect ratio bunches present in state-of-the-art high-brightness electron accelerators. In this paper, we explore the efficiency and accuracy of the calculations as function of meshing strategy and boundary conditions
Multigrid Algorithms for the Fast Calculation of Space-Charge Effects in Accelerator Design
No full textNumerical prediction of charged particle dynamics in accelerators is essential for the design and understanding of these machines. Methods to calculate the self-fields of the bunch, the so-called space-charge forces, become increasingly important as the demand for high-quality bunches increases. We report on our development of a new three-dimensional (3-D) space-charge routine in the general particle tracer (GPT) code. It scales linearly with the number of particles in terms of CPU time, allowing over a million particles to be tracked on a normal PC. The model is based on a nonequidistant multigrid Poisson solver that has been constructed to solve the electrostatic fields in the rest frame of the bunch on meshes with large aspect ratio. Theoretical and numerical investigations of the behavior of SOR relaxation and PCG method on nonequidistant grids emphasize the advantages of the multigrid algorithm with adaptive coarsening. Numerical investigations have been performed with a wide range of cylindrically shaped bunches (from very long to very short) occuring in recent applications. The application to the simulation of the TU/e DC/RF gun demonstrates the power of the new 3-D routine
Alternative Exon 9-Encoded Relay Domains Affect More than One Communication Pathway in the Drosophila Myosin Head
No full textWe investigated the biochemical and biophysical properties of one of the four alternative regions within the Drosophila myosin catalytic domain: the relay domain encoded by exon 9. This domain of the myosin head transmits conformational changes in the nucleotide-binding pocket to the converter domain, which is crucial to coupling catalytic activity with mechanical movement of the lever arm. To study the function of this region, we used chimeric myosins (IFI-9b and EMB-9a), which were generated by exchange of the exon 9-encoded domains between the native embryonic body wall (EMB) and indirect flight muscle isoforms (IFI). Kinetic measurements show that exchange of the exon 9-encoded region alters the kinetic properties of the myosin S1 head. This is reflected in reduced values for ATP-induced actomyosin dissociation rate constant (K(1)k(+2)) and ADP affinity (K(AD)), measured for the chimeric constructs IFI-9b and EMB-9a, compared to wild-type IFI and EMB values. Homology models indicate that, in addition to affecting the communication pathway between the nucleotide-binding pocket and the converter domain, exchange of the relay domains between IFI and EMB affects the communication pathway between the nucleotide-binding pocket and the actin-binding site in the lower 50-kDa domain (loop 2). These results suggest an important role of the relay domain in the regulation of actomyosin cross-bridge kinetics
