Dispersion relation and growth rate for a corrugated channel free-electron laser with a helical wiggler pump

Abstract

The effects of corrugated ion channels on electron trajectories and spatial growth rate for a free-electron laser with a one-dimensional helical wiggler have been investigated. Analysis of the steady-state electron trajectories is performed by solving the equations of motion. Our results show that the presence of a corrugated channel shifts the resonance frequency to smaller values of ion channel frequency. The sixth-order dispersion equation describing the coupling between the electrostatic beam mode and the electromagnetic mode has also been derived. The dispersion relation characteristic is analyzed in detail by numerical solution. Results show that the growth rate of instability in the presence of corrugated ion channels can be greatly enhanced relative to the case of an uniform ion channel.