Multi-mode competition in an FEL oscillator at perfect synchronism of an optical cavity

The sustained saturation in a short pulse free electron laser (FEL) oscillator at perfect synchronism of an optical cavity has been observed recently by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) FEL group by using their super-conducting linac (Phys. Rev. Lett., in preparation). The experiments have clearly shown that FEL efficiency becomes maximum at perfect synchronism, although it has been considered that only a transient state exists at perfect synchronism due to the lethargy effect. Through careful analyses of the experimental condition of JAERI FEL, we found that, in spite of the short length of the electron micro-bunch, the saturation appears due to the following features, which were different from other FEL experiments: (1) very large ratio of the small signal gain to losses, (2) very long electron macro-bunch which can tolerate a slow start up. The saturation and high efficiency at perfect synchronism were benefited from the contribution of the weak sideband instability. In order to analyse these new experimental phenomena, we expanded our three-dimensional time-dependent FEL code applicable to longitudinal mode competition, and obtained satisfactory numerical results, which were qualitatively in agreement with the experimental results.