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A new generation of high-gradient normal conducting 1.3 GHz RF gun with 1% duty factor was developed to provide a high-quality electron source for superconducting linac driven free-electron lasers like FLASH and European XFEL. Compared to the Gun4 series, Gun5 aims for a ~50% longer RF pulse length (RF pulse duration of up to 1 ms at 10 Hz repetition rate) combined with high gradients (up to ~60 MV/m at the cathode). In addition to the improved cell geometry and cooling concept, the new cavity is equipped with an RF probe to measure and control the amplitude and phase of the RF field inside the gun. The first characterization of Gun5.1 included measurements of RF amplitude and phase stability (pulse-to-pulse and along 1 ms RF pulse). The dark current was measured at various peak power levels. The results of this characterization will be reported.

The Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) develops a prototype of an accelerator-based high-power tunable THz source for pump-probe experiments at the European XFEL. The PITZ injector is also the site for the development and preparation of the high-brightness electron source for the main linac of the European XFEL and has the same pulse train structure as the X-ray photon source of the XFEL. For the proof-of-principle experiments on high-power THz generation an LCLS- I undulator (on loan from SLAC) is installed in the tunnel annex downstream of the existing accelerator. The extension of the beam line consists of a bunch compressor and a collimation system in the main PITZ tunnel, as well as a matching section, the undulator and the THz diagnostic setup in the tunnel annex. A Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) FEL is used to generate the THz pulses. High radiation power can be achieved by utilizing high charge (up to several nC) electron bunches from the PITZ photo injector. A beam energy of ~17 MeV is used to generate THz radiation with a centre wavelength of 100 μm. The transport of this space charge dominated electron beam and its thorough matching into the planar LCLS-I undulator with a strong vertical focusing is one of the project challenges. The installation of the first THz beamline setup was finished in summer 2022 and com-missioning with electron beam started. A specially developed procedure for a high charge beam matching into the undulator was successfully tested resulting in a first THz pulse generation. The start-up THz diagnostics is based on pyrodetectors. First measurements of the THz generation from 1,2 and 3 nC bunches have been taken, the statistics properties analysis corresponds to the expected SASE performance. The gain curve for the 3 nC case reflects the onset of saturation regime.

Research and development of an accelerator-based THz source prototype for pump-probe experiments at the European XFEL are ongoing at the Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ). A proof-of-principle experiment to generate THz SASE FEL radiation using an LCLS-I undulator driven by an electron bunch from the PITZ accelerator has been prepared. After four years of designs and construction, the first commissioning with an electron beam was started in July 2022. This paper presents and discusses the experience and results of the first commissioning.

Proceedings of the 31st International Linear Accelerator Conference, LINAC2022, Liverpool, UK 31st Linear Accelerator Conference, LINAC22, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 28 Aug 2022 - 2 Sep 2022; JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland 699-702 (2022). doi:10.18429/JACoW-LINAC2022-THPOJO03, A new generation of normal conducting 1.3GHz RF gun was developed to provide a high-quality electron source for superconducting linac driven free-electron lasers like FLASH and European XFEL. Compared to the Gun4 series, Gun5 aims for a 50% increase of the duration of the RF pulse (up to 1 ms at 10 Hz repetition rate) combined with high gradients (up to ~60 MV/m at the cathode). In addition to the improved impedance, the new cavity is equipped with an RF probe to measure and control the amplitude and phase of the RF field inside the gun. The first prototype of the new RF gun was manufactured at DESY and installed at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) in October 2021. In mid-October 2021 the RF conditioning began, aiming for achieving the aforementioned RF parameters. The conditioning procedure involves a slow gradual increase in repetition rate, RF pulse duration and peak power while carefully monitoring vacuum conditions and signals from interlock sensors. The results of RF conditioning will be reported., Published by JACoW Publishing, Geneva, Switzerland

The Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) was built to test and to optimize sources of high brightness electron beams for Free-Electron Lasers (FELs). In order to achieve high accelerating gradients and long RF pulse lengths in the RF gun cavities an extensive and safe RF conditioning is required. A State Machine based Automatic Conditioning application (SMAC) was developed to automate the RF conditioning processes, allowing for greater efficiency and performance optimization. SMAC is written in Java and uses State Chart XML (SCXML) as the finite-state machine execution environment based on Harel statecharts. It employs the Distributed Object-Oriented Control System (DOOCS) and Three-fold Integrated Networking Environment (TINE) for the communication with the control system of PITZ. The graphical user interface (GUI) is created by using the Java Swing toolkit. Communication between GUI and SXML processing layer is performed via Document Object Model (DOM) events. The SMAC application has been successfully applied to RF conditioning of several gun cavities at PITZ., Proceedings of the 12th Int. Workshop on Emerging Technologies and Scientific Facilities Controls, PCaPAC2018, Hsinchu, Taiwan

At the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ), high brightness electron sources for linac based Free Electron Lasers (FELs), like FLASH and the European XFEL are developed and characterized. The electrons are generated via the photoeffect at a cesium telluride (Cs₂Te) cathode and are accelerated by a 1.6-cell L-band RF-gun cavity with an accelerating gradient at the cathode of about 60 MV/m. The profile of the cathode laser pulse has been optimized yielding small emittances using laser pulse shaping methods. The transverse projected emittance is measured by a single slit scan technique. The measurement program in the last run period at PITZ concentrated on emittance measurements for the nominal 1 nC beam and emittance optimization for lower bunch charges. The recent results show that normalized projected emittances of about 1 mm-mrad for 1 nC charge and below 0.5 mm-mrad for 250 pC bunch charges can be realized at PITZ. The facility setup and measurement results including the uncertainty of the measured values will be reported and discussed in this contribution., Proceedings of the 1st International Particle Accelerator Conference, IPAC2010, Kyoto, Japan

The Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ), develops, optimizes and characterizes high brightness electron sources for free electron lasers like FLASH and the European XFEL. In the last year, the facility was significantly upgraded by the installation of a new normal conducting radio- frequency (RF) gun cavity with its new waveguide system for the RF feed, which should allow stable and reliable gun operation, as required for the European XFEL. Other relevant additions include beamline modifications for improving the electron beam transport through the PITZ accelerator, extending the beam-based measurement capabilities, and preparing the installation of a plasma cell. Furthermore, the laser hutch was re-arranged in order to be able to house an additional, new photo cathode drive laser system which should be able to produce 3D ellipsoidal laser pulses to further improve the electron beam quality. This paper describes in detail the aforementioned facility upgrades and reports on the first operation experience with the new gun setup., Proceedings of the 6th Int. Particle Accelerator Conf., IPAC2015, Richmond, VA, USA