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Silica-coated iron oxide nanoparticles are of enormous importance in biotechnology, nanomedicine, and catalysis. The study demonstrates the significant influence of the coating thickness on the particle properties. Though slow magnetophoresis, a thinner shell leads to higher surface areas, lower isoelectric points, and higher magnetizations. However, thick layers prevent oxidation and lead to stabilization. The coating thickness influenced the binding of the cationic peptide lasioglossin, with a maximal loading of 0.23 g g−1 for the smallest particles. This knowledge can be used to specifically design particles for usage with a cationic tag system in biotechnology or drug delivery with antimicrobial peptides. Graphical abstract

Applied physics letters 120, 104102 (2022). doi:10.1063/5.0078927, Electron photoinjectors provide high-brightness electron beams to numerous research applications in physics, chemistry, material, and life sciences. Semiconductor photocathodes are widely used here, as they enable the production of low-emittance beams with variable charge at high repetition rates. One of the key figures of merit of photocathodes is the minimum achievable bunch length. In semiconductor cathodes, this is dominated by scattering effects and varying penetration depths of the extracting photons, which leads to a characteristic electron emission function. We present a method to determine this cathode time response with resolution on the tens of femtoseconds level, breaking the resolution barrier encountered in previous studies. The method is demonstrated with cesium-telluride (Cs$_2$Te) and gold cathodes, revealing response times of (184 �� 41) fs up to (253 �� 58) fs for the semiconductor and an upper limit of (93 �� 17) fs for the metal. Monte Carlo simulations of Cs$_2$Te emission benchmarked to these results give detailed information about the cathode material., Published by American Inst. of Physics, Melville, NY

Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research / A 1004, 165344 (1-9) (2021). doi:10.1016/j.nima.2021.165344, Multiphysics simulations are widely used in designing high average power RF cavities, which require iterations of RF simulation, thermal simulation and mechanical simulation in a closed loop. The reliability and accuracy of the multiphysics simulations are crucial, otherwise extra design margins are needed for simulation uncertainties. We present an experimental benchmark for the multiphysics simulations of a 40 kW L-band RF gun at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ). The gun temperature distribution and frequency shift due to average RF heating power are measured and compared with multiphysics simulations., Published by North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam

This work discusses the behavior of electron bunch charge produced in an L-band normal conducting radio frequency gun from Cs 2 Te photocathodes illuminated with ps-long UV laser pulses and presumed homogeneous flattop laser transverse distribution. The measured charge shows the expected linear dependence in the quantum efficiency limited emission regime at low laser pulse energies. At higher laser pulse energy, the measured charge in the space charge limited emission regime should saturate, assuming an ideal homogeneous flattop laser transverse distribution. However, this behavior is not observed experimentally. Instead of saturating, the measured charge continues to increase with laser pulse energy, albeit with much weaker dependence than in the quantum efficiency limited emission regime. Simulations with the space charge particle tracking code ASTRA show that the charge saturates as expected using a homogeneous flattop laser transverse distribution. The discrepancy between simulations and measured excess charge may be attributed to the presence of unintentional Gaussian-like decaying radial halo beyond the core of the otherwise presumed homogeneous flattop core. The rate of increase of the measured charge at high laser pulse energies seems to be proportional to the amount of halo despite charge saturation in the core of the transverse laser radial profile. By utilizing core + halo particle distributions based on measured radial laser profiles, ASTRA simulations and semi-analytical emission models reproduce the behavior of the measured charge for a wide range of RF gun and laser operational parameters within the measurement uncertainties.

High energy density physics 32, 31 - 43 (2019). doi:10.1016/j.hedp.2019.04.001, To understand astrophysical magnetic-field amplification, we conducted a feasibility study for a laboratory experiment of a non-resonant streaming instability at the Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ). This non-resonant streaming instability, also known as Bell’s instability, is generally regarded as a candidate for the amplification of interstellar magnetic field in the upstream region of supernova-remnant shocks, which is crucial for the efficiency of diffusive shock acceleration. In the beam-plasma system composed of a radio-frequency electron gun and a gas-discharge plasma cell, the goal of our experiment is to demonstrate the development of the non-resonant streaming instability and to find its saturation level in the laboratory environment. Since we find that the electron beam will be significantly decelerated on account of an electrostatic streaming instability, which will decrease the growth rate of desired non-resonant streaming instability, we discuss possible ways to suppress the electrostatic streaming instability by considering the characteristics of a field-emission-based quasi continuous-wave electron beam., Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]

Physical review letters 122(4), 044801 (2019). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.044801, Temporally modulated electron beams have a wide array of applications ranging from the generation of coherently enhanced electromagnetic radiation to the resonant excitation of electromagnetic wakefields in advanced-accelerator concepts. Likewise producing low-energy ultrashort microbunches could be useful for ultrafast electron diffraction and new accelerator-based light-source concepts. In this Letter we propose and experimentally demonstrate a passive microbunching technique capable of forming a picosecond bunch train at ∼6 MeV. The method relies on the excitation of electromagnetic wakefields as the beam propagates through a dielectric-lined waveguide. Owing to the nonultrarelativistic nature of the beam, the induced energy modulation eventually converts into a density modulation as the beam travels in a following free-space drift. The modulated beam is further accelerated to ∼20 MeV while preserving the imparted density modulation., Published by APS, College Park, Md.

10th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC’19, Melbourne, Australia, 2 May 2019 - 24 May 2019; Journal of physics / Conference series Conference series [...] 1350, 012046 - (2019). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1350/1/012046, Laser pulse shaping is one of the key elements to generate low emittance electron beams with RF photoinjectors. Ultimately high performance can be achieved with ellipsoidal laser pulses, but 3-dimensional shaping is challenging. High beam quality can also be reached by simple transverse pulse shaping, which has demonstrated improved beam emittance compared to a transversely uniform laser in the 'pancake' photoemission regime. In this contribution we present the truncation of a Gaussian laser at a radius of approximately one sigma in the intermediate (electron bunch length directly after emission about the same as radius) photoemission regime with high acceleration gradients (up to 60 MV/m). This type of electron bunch is used e.g. at the European XFEL and FLASH free electron lasers at DESY, Hamburg site and is being investigated in detail at the Photoinjector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ). Here we present ray-tracing simulations and experimental data of a laser beamline upgrade enabling variable transverse truncation. Initial projected emittance measurements taken with help of this setup are shown, as well as supporting beam dynamics simulations. Additional simulations show the potential for substantial reduction of slice emittance at PITZ., Published by IOP Publ.20382, Bristol

44th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz) : [Proceedings] - IEEE, 2019. - ISBN 978-1-5386-8285-2 - doi:10.1109/IRMMW-THz.2019.8874425 2019 44th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves, IRMMW-THz 2019, Paris, France, 1 Sep 2019 - 6 Sep 2019; IEEE 1 pp. (2019). doi:10.1109/IRMMW-THz.2019.8874425, There is a high demand for intense THz sources since “many excitation mechanisms of matter resonate in the terahertz regime” especially for condensed matters. “Accelerator-based THz sources provide the wide tunability together with high intensity and repetition rates beyond 100 kHz, that will enable broad application at the European XFEL to the most interesting scientific problems in the field” [1]. Supported by European XFEL a proof of principle study is started at the Photo-Injector Test Facility located at DESY in Zeuthen site (PITZ). Since PITZ and European XFEL electron sources are identical the X-ray and THz radiation can be produced with identical bunch train structure so that for every X-ray pulse a corresponding THz pulse can be provided for the pump-and- probe experiments., Published by IEEE

We report on an approach to produce quasi continuous-wave (cw) electron beams with an average beam current of milliamperes and a mean beam energy of a few MeV in a pulsed RF injector. Potential applications are in the planned laboratory astrophysics programs at DESY. The beam generation is based on field emission from a specially designed metallic field emitter. A quasi cw beam profile is formed over subsequent RF cycles at the resonance frequency of the gun cavity. This is realized by debunching in a cut disk structure accelerating cavity (booster) downstream of the gun. The peak and average beam currents can be tuned in beam dynamics simulations by adjusting operation conditions of the booster cavity. Optimization of the transverse beam size at specific positions (e.g., entrance of the plasma experiment) is performed by applying magnetic focusing fields provided by solenoids along the beam line. In this paper, the design of a microtip field emitter is introduced and characterized in electromagnetic field simulations in the gun cavity. A series of particle tracking simulations are conducted for multi-parametric optimization of the parameters of the produced quasi cw electron beams. The obtained results will be presented and discussed. In addition, measurements of the parasitic field emission (PFE) current (dark current) in the PITZ gun will be exemplarily shown to distinguish its order of magnitude from the produced beam current by the designed field emitter., Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures

3rd European Advanced Accelerator Concepts workshop, EAAC 2017, Elba, Italy, 24 Sep 2017 - 30 Sep 2017; Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research / A 909, 107 - 110 (2018). doi:10.1016/j.nima.2018.02.043, Beam driven plasma acceleration is one of the most promising candidates for future compact particle accelerator technologies. In this scheme a particle bunch drives a wake in a plasma medium. The fields inside of the wake can be used to accelerate a trailing witness bunch. To maximise the ratio between acceleration of the witness to deceleration of the drive bunch, the so called transformer ratio, several methods have been proposed. The ones yielding the most favorable results are based on shaped drive bunches that are long in terms of the plasma wavelength. We present here methods to create such drive bunches employing temporally shaped UV-laser pulses for the extraction of electron bunches from a photo-electron gun. Theoretical considerations, experimental results and possibilities for further improvements are discussed., Published by North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam

9th International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC18, Vancouver, Kanada, 29 Apr 2018 - 4 May 2018; Journal of physics / Conference Series 1067, 042012 (2018). doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1067/4/042012, The self-modulation instability is fundamental for the plasma wakefield acceleration experiment of the AWAKE (Advanced Wakefield Experiment) collaboration at CERN where this effect is used to generate proton bunches for the resonant excitation of high acceleration fields. Utilizing the availability of flexible electron beam shaping together with excellent diagnostics including an RF deflector, a supporting experiment was set up at the electron accelerator PITZ (Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site), given that the underlying physics is the same. After demonstrating the effect [1] the next goal is to investigate in detail the self-modulation of long (with respect to the plasma wavelength) electron beams.In this contribution we describe parameter studies on self-modulation of a long electron bunch in an argon plasma. The plasma was generated with a discharge cell with densities in the 10$^{13}$ cm$^{−3}$ to 10$^{15}$ cm$^{−3}$ range. The plasma density was deduced from the plasma wavelength as indicated by the self-modulation period. Parameter scans were conducted with variable plasma density and electron bunch focusing., Published by IOP Publ., Bristol

Plasma physics and controlled fusion 61(4), 045012 (2019). doi:10.1088/1361-6587/ab04b9, We present a new method to determine the electron density of a plasma by measuring the periodicity of modulations introduced to the longitudinal phase space of a relativistic particle bunch by the interaction with the plasma via the self-modulation instability. As the modulation is solely depending on the plasma density and the beam parameters, this method allows to determine the time-resolved density of a plasma at the position of beam passage, which is confirmed in particle-in-cell simulations. Densities in the range of 3.6 × 10$^{12}$ cm$^{−3}$ – 7.2 × 10$^{15}$ cm$^{−3}$ have been measured and the measurement accuracy is confirmed by comparison to spectroscopic plasma density measurements., Published by IOP Publ., Bristol

In the frame of conceptual studies for a compact (less than 6 GeV) X-ray FEL at PSI, we report here on the design and beam dynamics simulations of a two-cell two-frequency RF gun-like cavity. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility and the RF flexibility of such a cavity for manipulating the longitudinal phase space while preserving the initial low transverse emittance. Shaping the longitudinal phase space is mandatory for efficient velocity bunching at an early stage of the accelerator. The cavity, located after the gap of a 500-kV to 1-MV diode, is dimensioned to operate at 1.5 and 4.5 GHz. The RF design of the two-cell cavity and the coupling schemes for both frequencies are presented. Mode separation, which ensures adequate operation, is achieved by profiling the cavity walls. The flexibility of such a design to shape the longitudinal phase space is illustrated with beam dynamics simulations. The transverse emittance is shown to be nearly unchanged by combining emittance compensation and a beam matching scheme. The deleterious effects of the transverse RF fields are consequently reduced to a minimum.

The Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY Zeuthen (PITZ) was built to test and optimize electron sources for Free Electron Lasers and future linear colliders. The focus is on the production of intense electron beams with minimum transverse emittance and short bunch length as required for FEL operation. The experimental setup includes a 1.5 cell L-band gun cavity with coaxial RF coupler, a solenoid for space charge compensation, a laser capable to generate long pulse trains with variable temporal and spatial pulse shape, an UHV photo cathode exchange system, and an extensive diagnostics section. This contribution will give an overview on the facility and will mainly discuss the measurements of the electron beam transverse phase space. This will include measurements of the transverse and longitudinal laser profile, beam charge as a function of RF phase, and transverse emittance as a function of different parameters. The corresponding measurements of momentum and momentum spread as well as the RF commissioning results will be summarized. As a first application of the PITZ electron source it will be installed at the TESLA Test Facility Free Electron Laser at DESY Hamburg in autumn 2003.

The Photo Injector Test facility at DESY Zeuthen (PITZ) was built to develop electron sources for the TESLA Test Facility Free Electron Laser and future linear colliders. The main goal is to study the production of minimum transverse emittance beams with short bunch length at medium charge (∼1 nC). The facility includes a 1.5 cell L-band cavity with coaxial RF coupler, a solenoid for space charge compensation, a laser capable to generate long pulse trains, an UHV photo cathode exchange system, and different diagnostics tools. Besides an overview of the facility, its main components and their commissioning, this contribution will concentrate on the first measurements at PITZ with photoelectrons. This will include measurements of the transverse and longitudinal laser profile, charge and quantum efficiency, momentum and momentum spread, transverse electron beam profiles at different locations and first results on transverse emittance.

The Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ), offers the unique possibility to study and demonstrate the self-modulation of long electron bunches in plasma. A set of numerical simulations with the particle-in-cell code OSIRIS has been carried out for a better understanding of the process. Of particular interest is the measurement of the energy modulation induced to the beam itself by means of the generated wakefields in plasma. It will reflect the key properties of the accelerating electric fields such as their magnitude and their phase velocity, both of significant importance in the design of experiments relying on this technique.

The photoinjector test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ), was built to develop and optimize photoelectron sources for superconducting linacs for high-brilliance, short-wavelength free-electron laser (FEL) applications like the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) and the European x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL). In this paper, the detailed characterization of two laser-driven rf guns with different operating conditions is described. One experimental optimization of the beam parameters was performed at an accelerating gradient of about 43 MV/m at the photocathode and the other at about 60 MV/m. In both cases, electron beams with very high phase-space density have been demonstrated at a bunch charge of 1 nC and are compared with corresponding simulations. The rf gun optimized for the lower gradient has surpassed all the FLASH requirements on beam quality and rf parameters (gradient, rf pulse length, repetition rate) and serves as a spare gun for this facility. The rf gun studied with increased accelerating gradient at the cathode produced beams with even higher brightness, yielding the first demonstration of the beam quality required for driving the European XFEL: The geometric mean of the normalized projected rms emittance in the two transverse directions was measured to be 1.26±0.13 mm mrad for a 1-nC electron bunch. When a 10% charge cut is applied excluding electrons from those phase-space regions where the measured phase-space density is below a certain level and which are not expected to contribute to the lasing process, the normalized projected rms emittance is about 0.9 mm mrad.

For photocathode rf guns, the amount of dark current depends on the cavity surface as well as on the photocathodes. Smooth conditioning reduces the amount of dark current. Multipacting in the gun cavity changes the surface status of the cathodes and sometimes obstructs the gun operation because of vacuum interlocks. In this paper, dark current and multipacting features of an rf gun are presented including experimental and simulation studies.

A wide range of rf photo injector parameters has to be optimized in order to achieve an electron source performance as required for linac based high gain FELs. Some of the machine parameters can not be precisely controlled by direct measurements, whereas the tolerances on them are extremely tight. Therefore, this should be met with beam-based techniques. Procedures for beam-based alignment (BBA) of the laser on the photocathode as well as solenoid alignment have been developed. They were applied at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY at Zeuthen (PITZ) and at the photo injector of the VUV-FEL at DESY at Hamburg. The field balance of the accelerating mode in the 1 1/2 cell gun cavity is one of the key beam dynamics issues of the rf gun. Since no direct field measurement in the half and full cell of the cavity is available for the PITZ gun, a beam-based technique to determine the field balance has been proposed. A beam-based rf phase monitoring proce dure has been developed as well.

The ability to produce high brightness electron beams as required for modern Free Electron Lasers (FELs) has been demonstrated during the first stage of the Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY Zeuthen (PITZ1). The electron source optimization at PITZ1 was successfully completed, resulting in the installation of the PITZ rf gun at the VUV-FEL (DESY, Hamburg). One of the main goals of the second stage of PITZ (PITZ2) is to apply higher gradients in the rf gun cavity in order to obtain smaller beam emittance by faster acceleration of the space charge dominated beams. In order to reach the required gradients a 10 MW klystron has to be installed and the gun cavity has to be conditioned for higher peak power. Another important goal of PITZ2 is a detailed study of the emittance conservation principle by using proper electron beam acceleration with a booster. Further photo injector optimization, including update of the photocathode laser and diagnostic tools, is foreseen as well. Recent progress on the PITZ developments will be reported.

Published online 16 November 2005 Groupe SERA; Many scientific disciplines ranging from physics, chemistry and biology to material sciences, geophysics and medical diagnostics need a powerful X-ray source with pulse lengths in the femtosecond range [1-4]. This would allow, for example, time-resolved observation of chemical reactions with atomic resolution. Such radiation of extreme intensity, and tunable over a wide range of wavelengths, can be accomplished using high-gain free-electron lasers (FEL) [5-10]. Here we present results of the first successful operation of an FEL at a wavelength of 32 nm, with ultra-short pulses (25 fs FWHM), a peak power at the Gigawatt level, and a high degree of transverse and longitudinal coherence. The experimental data are in full agreement with theory. This is the shortest wavelength achieved with an FEL to date and an important milestone towards a user facility designed for wavelengths down to 6 nm. With a peak brilliance exceeding the state-of-the-art of synchrotron radiation sources [4] by seven orders of magnitude, this device opens a new field of experiments, and it paves the way towards sources with even shorter wavelengths, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source [3] at Stanford, USA, and the European X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility [4] in Hamburg, Germany.

The Photo Injector Test facility PITZ will be upgraded in 2004. Its main research goals are studies on the production and the conservation of low transverse emittance electron beams. The installation of an additional accelerating cavity is planned, which increases the beam energy from − 5 MeV after the gun to about 30 MeV after the booster. The goal is to produce and conserve a normalized transverse emittance of about 1 π mm mrad at 1 nC charge. For the characterization of the low emittance beam at higher beam energy, new diagnostics tools need to be installed. In this article, an overview about the layout of the upgraded facility and the planned physics activities is given.

A setup for the measurement of the longitudinal phase space at the photo injector test facility at DESY Zeuthen is described. The measurements of the momentum distribution, the length of an electron bunch and of their correlation are discussed. The results of the momentum distribution measurement are shown, a maximum mean momentum of 4.7 MeV/c and a RMS momentum spread of 14 keV/c is observed. The setup for the measurement of the bunch length includes a Cherenkov radiator which is used to convert the electron beam into a photon beam with a wavelength in the visible range. The Cherenkov radiation mechanism is chosen in order to measure the bunch length with good time resolution. A silica aerogel radiator with low refractive index will be used. Geant 4 simulations show that a resolution of 0.12 ps can be reached. The time dependent behaviour and the position of the photon bunch will be measured by a streak camera system. A simultaneous measurement of the bunch length and the momentum spread will provide the full information about the longitudinal phase space. The design considerations of the radiators and their properties are discussed.

2003 Particle Accelerator Conference, PAC2003, Portland, USA, 12 May 2003 - 16 May 2003; Hamburg : DESY 34-36 (2003)., The Photo Injector Test facility at DESY Zeuthen (PITZ) was built in order to study the production of high brightness electron beams, which are substantial for the successful operation of Free Electron Lasers (FEL) and linear colliders. The photoinjector at Zeuthen is based on a 1.5-cell L-band rf cavity with coaxial rf coupler equipped with emittance compensating solenoids, a laser capable to generate long pulse trains, an UHV photo cathode exchange system, and various diagnostics tools. The current goal of PITZ is a full characterization of the electron source, which will be installed at the TESLA Test Facility Free Electron Laser (TTF2-FEL) in autumn 2003. In the running periods before the gun is delivered toTTF2-FEL, the rf performance and the beam parameters will be measured in detail. The results presented in this contribution contain the measurements of dark current, driving laser parameters, beam charge, beam size along the facility, transverse emittance, momentum and momentum spread. The electron beam measurements will be presented in comparison with beam dynamics simulations., Published by DESY, Hamburg

The photo injector test facility at DESY Zeuthen (PITZ) was built to develop, operate and optimize photo injectors for future free electron lasers and linear colliders. First photo electrons were produced in January 2002. An extensive conditioning work on the rf gun has been done in order to achieve high gradients for different pulse lengths and repetition rates. To increase the efficiency and safety aspects of the rf commissioning an Automatic Conditioning Program (ACP) was developed. In addition, a Data Aquisition system (DAQ) which enables a deeper analysis of the commissioning work was realized. The conditioning procedures, the specific diagnostic elements and the achieved results are described. Furthermore, dark current measurements under different conditions are presented.

Physical review letters 121(6), 064801 (2018). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.064801, Particle-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PWFA) enables various novel high-gradient techniques for powering future compact light-source and high-energy physics applications. Here, a driving particle bunch excites a wakefield response in a plasma medium, which may rapidly accelerate a trailing witness beam. In this Letter, we present the measurement of ratios of acceleration of the witness bunch to deceleration of the driver bunch, the so-called transformer ratio, significantly exceeding the fundamental theoretical and thus far experimental limit of 2 in a PWFA. An electron bunch with ramped current profile was utilized to accelerate a witness bunch with a transformer ratio of $4.6^{+2.2}_{−0.7}$ in a plasma with length $∼10 cm$, also demonstrating stable transport of driver bunches with lengths on the order of the plasma wavelength., Published by APS, College Park, Md.