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Electron Sources

Electron sources are a key component of the electron beam-driven wakefield accelerator method.

Electron sources are a key component of the electron beam-driven wakefield accelerator method since it relies on both an extremely high charge beam to ​“drive” the wakefield and delivering a high-brightness ​“witness” beam to the Interaction Point of a linear collider or the undulator of a free electron laser. To this end, the AWA grows and installs its own large-diameter, Cesium Telluride photocathodes for use in the AWA drive gun and will soon upgrade the witness gun from Mg to CsTe. The AWA has also conducted fundamental studies of field emission cathodes using the Argonne Cathode Test-stand (ACT).