A COMPACT, INEXPENSIVE, VUV LASER

CURRENTLY SEVERAL MAJOR FREE-ELECTRON LASER (FEL) PROJECTS ARE PLANNED OR ARE UNDERWAY TO GENERATE SHORT WAVELENGTH-RADIATION IN THE VUV AND XUV REGIONS. THESE EFFORTS INVOVLE LARGE STORAGE RING OR LINEAR ACCELERATORS AND MAGNETIC WIGGLER MAGNETS SEVERAL METERS LONG. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THESE LARGE AND EXPENSIVE UNDERTAKINGS IS TO CONSTRUCT AN FEL WITH A LOW ENERGY ELECTRON BEAM (< 1 MEV) AND AN OPTICAL PUMP FIELD PROVIDED BY A LASER BEAM. THE LATTER APPROACH HAS SEVERAL TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH IT WHICH UP TO NOW HAVE BEEN INSURMOUNTABLE. WE PURPOSE TO OVERCOME THESE TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WITH AN INNOVATIVE ELECTRON GUN DESIGN WHICH HAS ALREADY EXHIBITED BRIGHTNESS VALUES 10(4) HIGHER THAN THOSE AVAILABLE FOR LARGE ACCELERATORS. THIS GUN COULD BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE EXCIMER LASERS TO OPERATE AN OSCILLATOR IN THE XUVAND VUV WAVELENGTH REGIONS. THE FIRST PHASE OF THIS PROGRAM WILL ANALYZE THE FEL GAIN AND OPERATING PARAMETERS AND IDENTIFY THE KEY ISSUES FOR THEDESIGN OF THE OSCILLATOR CAVITY. THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PROTOTYPE INSTRUMENT AND A PROOF-OF-PRINCIPLE EXPERIMENT AT 1400 WILL BE THE PRIMARY GOAL OF PHASE 2 WITH EXTENSION TO XUV AND SOFT X-RAY TO FOLLOW.