Abstract
| In the framework of the FERMI@ELETTRA project, aimed to build an X-ray FEL source, a crucial role is played by the electron source, which has to produce a very high quality bunch, in terms of low emittance and uncorrelated energy spread. We have investigated the effects of low- (100-300 5m) and high- ( 10<sup><font size="-1">-50</font></sup> 5m) frequency modulation of the beam charge deriving from intensity modulation of the laser pulse incident on the photocathode on the downstream beam distribution. Following other proposals, we have investigated the use of a short laser 'heater' to increase the effective incoherent energy spread and reduce the gain in the longitudinal density modulation instability. We present results from simulation of the beam generation at the photocathode, and transport through the photoinjector, initial acceleration modules and the laser heater. |