DIAGNOSIS OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON-BEAMS USING A FREE-ELECTRON LASER-AMPLIFIER

The potential use of a free electron laser (FEL) amplifier as a diagno stic tool for relativistic electron beams is investigated. It is in fa ct shown that a simple relation exists between electron bunch length, energy spread, and the gain of a FEL resonant amplification. It is als o discussed how the beam qualities can be derived from an actual exper imental configuration. Finally, the possibility of combining the prese nt methods to other techniques, like nondestructive diagnosis with sho rt undulators, is also analyzed. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physic s.