Electrostatic Accelerators For Free Electron Lasers

Because of their capability of recovering efficiently ampere level electron beams and their ability of generating high quality electron beams, electrostatic accelerators are ideally suited to drive free electron lasers (FELs) in the mm, far infrared (FIR) and infrared (IR) region. This paper deals with the utilization of electrostatic accelerators as drivers of free electron lasers. In particular, it reviews the efforts carried out to build and operate one such device at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Morover, this paper discusses some of the features that are unique to electrostatic acelerator driven FELs, including narrow spectral bandwidth, high overall efficiency and high average power. A few technological applications are also reviewed. © 1990