Two-stream instability in free electron lasers

The analysis of the interaction between electromagnetic waves and electron beams in semi-infinite wigglers is presented. The beam is assumed to include two cold streams of electrons; hence, its space-charge waves may be unstable (two-stream instability). In the wiggler, this instability is shown to yield much larger growth rates (up to seven times greater) than in the conventional one-stream free electron laser (FEL). Accordingly, the gain per pass is enhanced by orders of magnitude. The enhancement of the two-stream instability is shown to be most effective for short-period wigglers