Temporal Pulse Shaping Techniques for Photoinjector Lasers

High brightness electron beams are of interest in next generation light sources, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) and the International Linear Collider (ILC), as well in energy recovery linacs. For these systems, proper shaping of the electron beams, both temporally and spatially is needed to achieve high brightness. This project will develop technology for shaping pulses from a photoinjector laser; in order to produce high brightness electron beams in shaped electron bunches. The approach involves temporally shaping the spatial dimensions of a pulse, leading to the production of ellipsoidal pulses. A nonlinear technique will be used to generate the ellipsoidal laser pulses, which will have time-varying spatial dimensions at the photocathode. In turn, this technique will generate low-emittance electron beams.Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardeeThe market for ultrafast laser products is a growth area, as ultrafast lasers are being applied to a variety of industrial applications as well as to basic academic research. The pulse shaping method