Optical spikes in a free electron laser: theory and experiment

A. Bhattacharjee, S. Y. Cai, J. W. Dodd, T. C. Marshall

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

It is shown that the nonlinear dynamics of the radiation field in a free electron laser (FEL) can be modeled by the Ginzburg-Landau equation. The refractive index of the electron beam in the nonlinear regime and the saturation intensity of the radiation field is obtained from a WKB theory. Though the Ginzburg-Landau equation does not permit soliton solutions, it is shown that certain types of solitary wave solutions bear a strong resemblance to spikes observed in simulations and experiments. In particular, we describe experiments on spikes in the Columbia FEL facility.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)99-103
Number of pages5
JournalNuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A
Volume304
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 1991
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Instrumentation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Optical spikes in a free electron laser: theory and experiment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this