NONINVASIVE LASER PROBING OF ULTRASHORT SINGLE ELECTRON BUNCHES FOR ACCELERATOR AND LIGHT SOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Companion development of ultrafast electron beam diagnostics capable of noninvasively resolving single bunch detail is essential for the development of high energy, high brightness accelerator facilities and associated beam-based light source applications. Existing conventional accelerators can exhibit timing-jitter down to the 100 femtosecond level which exceeds their single bunch duration capability. At the other extreme, in relatively jitterless environments, laser-plasma wakefield accelerators (LWFA) can generate single electron bunches of duration estimated to be of order 10 femtoseconds making this setting a valuable testbed for development of broadband electron bunch diagnostics. Characteristics of electro-optic schemes and laser-induced reflectance are discussed with emphasis on temporal resolution.