The Jefferson Lab free electron laser program

Abstract

The development of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator technology for CEBAF's nuclear physics program set the stage for its application to a number of other efforts. We describe below the development of the a major advance in Free Electron Laser (FEL) Technology based on SRF linacs. The Jefferson Lab efforts achieved three orders of magnitude increase in the power delivered by FELs and firmly established the viability of energy recovering linac technology. We describe the details of the physics and engineering challenges addressed to accomplish this effort and then discuss some of the applications performed using the light source. We conclude with a look at the planned directions for the program in the future. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.