Development of femtosecond photocathode RF gun

Femtosecond electron bunches are essential for the observation of ultrafast reactions and phenomena in materials. To improve the time resolution of pulse radiolysis and ultrafast electron diffraction (UED), which involve the use of ultrashort electron bunches and ultrashort light, a femtosecond photocathode RF gun driven by a femtosecond laser was investigated experimentally. Bunch charge generated in the RF gun was studied based on the Schottky effect. Thermal emittance was estimated as 0.26 mm mrad at an rms laser spot size of 0.21 mm. Bunch length and longitudinal emittance were obtained as 180 fs and 0.87 deg keV, respectively, at a bunch charge of 3.5 pC and rms laser spot size of 0.38 mm.