RF photoinjector development for a short-pulse, hard x-ray Thomson scattering source.

An important motivation in the development of the next generation x-ray light sources is to achieve picosecond and sub-ps pulses of hard x-rays for dynamic studies of a variety of physical, chemical and biological processes. Present hard x-ray sources are either pulse-width or intensity limited, which allows ps-scale temporal resolution only for signal averaging of highly repetitive processes. A much faster and brighter hard x-ray source is being developed at LLNL, based on Thomson scattering of fs-laser pulses by a relativistic electron beam, which will enable x-ray characterization of the transient structure of a sample in a single shot. Experimental and diagnostic techniques relevant to the development of next generation sources including the Linac Coherent Light Source can be tested with the Thomson scattering hard x-ray source. This source will combine an RF photoinjector with a 100 MeV S-band linac. The photoinjector and linac also provide an ideal test-bed for examining space-charge induced emittance growth effects. A program of beam dynamics and diagnostic experiments are planned in parallel with Thomson source development. Our experimental progress and future plans will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]