Electron Bunch Shape Measurements Using Electro-optical Spectral Decoding

Longitudinal diagnostics of the electron bunch shapes play a crucial role in the operation of linac-based light sources. Electro-optical techniques allow us to measure the longitudinal electron bunch profiles non-destructively on a shot-by-shot basis. Here we present results from measurements of electron bunches with a length of 200-900 fs rms at the Swiss FEL Injector Test Facility. All the measurements were done using an Yb-doped fibre laser system (with a central wavelength of a 1050 nm) and a GaP crystal. The technique of electro-optical spectral decoding (EOSD) was applied and showed great capabilities to measure bunch shapes down to around 370 fs rms. Measurements were performed for different electron energies to study the expected distortions of the measured bunch profile due to the energy-dependent widening of the electric field, which plays a role for low beam energies below and around 40 MeV. The studies provide valuable input for the design of the EOSD monitors for the compact linear accelerator FLUTE that is currently under commissioning at the Karslruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).