Beam Optical Properties of the NSLS Dipoles

Presently there is much interest in low energy (< 1 GeV) electron storage rings as sources of synchrotron radiation and for studies of the free electron laser. The economics and physics of these storage rings favor the use of bending magnets with small radius of curvature and large bend angle. Here we discuss some general features of such magnets and the results of magnetic mesurements of the dipole magnets of the NSLS booster and storage rings. We interpret the magnetic measurements in terms of the magnet geometry and saturation characteristics. We discuss transport functions describing the linear and nonlinear focusing properties of the magnets, parametrized in terms of their curvature and fringe field length.