Detailed numerical studies of space charge effects in an FEL RF gun

The production of short bunches with low emittance is a key issue for the successful operation of an SASE-FEL as proposed by the TESLA collaboration (TESLA Technical design report, DESY 2001-011, Hamburg, 2001). In this paper we present the results of detailed MAFIA TS-2 (CST GmbH, Büdinger Strasse 2a, D-64289 Darmstadt) simulations for the FEL RF-gun revealing the main physical effects leading to emittance growth. The simulations prove that the transverse emittance growth can mainly be observed close to the cathode area. This is caused by the non-linear space charge forces acting inside the bunch during the injection process. For the application of an emittance compensation scheme (Nucl. Instr. and Meth. 285 (1989) 313) the slice emittance is of significant importance. Therefore, a wide range of parameters for the photo cathode laser has been investigated in order to find an appropriate operation point.