Experimental optimization of the 6-dimentional electron beam emittance at the NSLS SDL

Experimental optimization of the 6-dimensional electron beam emittance generated by a Magnesium (Mg) photocathode RF gun is presented in this report. A new electron beam optimization algorithm for a low charge (<100 pC) beam was experimentally demonstrated; where the electron beam velocity bunching inside the RF gun plays a critical role, and the transverse emittance as a function of the laser-RF timing jitter was experimentally characterized for the first time. A 20 pC electron beam was optimized to have a normalized slice emittance of 0.15 mm mrad and a longitudinal projected emittance of 3.9 ps keV. Furthermore, the upper limit of the measured thermal emittance—0.5 mm mrad per mm of the rms laser size, is about 50% lower than the theoretical prediction for a Mg cathode (Qian et al., 2010) [1].