3-DIMENSIONAL NONLINEAR-ANALYSIS OF AN EXB DRIFTING ELECTRON LASER

In this paper we numerically investigate the nonlinear evolution of th e E x B drifting electron laser (DEL) [1,2] for an amplifier configura tion in which an electron beam propagates through a periodic magnetic field (wiggler) and undergoes a relativistic E x B drift in orthogonal static electric and magnetic fields. A set of coupled nonlinear diffe rential equations is given in three dimensions which controls the self -consistent evolution of TE modes in a rectangular waveguide as well a s the trajectories of an ensemble of electrons. Our numerical simulati ons are conducted to model a 35 GHz amplifier with an electron beam en ergy of 3.5 MeV. The results show that the radiation energy in the DEL mainly comes from the change in the kinetic energy of the electron be am, and the DEL, compared with the free-electron laser (FEL) with simi lar operating parameters, has higher interaction efficiency and peak p ower. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.