Production of long bunch trains with 4.5 μ C total charge using a photoinjector

A photoinjector, PHIN (PHotoINjector), has been realized at CERN by a joint effort of several institutes within the European Coordinated Accelerator Research in Europe program. The test facility has been installed and commissioned at CERN with the aim to demonstrate the beam parameters needed for the CLIC Test Facility 3 (CTF3). This beam is unique with respect to its long bunch train and high average charge per bunch requirements. The nominal beam for CTF3 consists of 1908 bunches each having a 2.33 nC charge and a bunch frequency of 1.5 GHz. Thus, a total charge of similar to 4.4 mu C has to be extracted and accelerated. The stability of the intensity and the beam parameters along this exceptionally high average current train is crucial for the correct functioning of the CLIC drive beam scheme. Consequently, extensive time-resolved measurements of the transverse and longitudinal beam parameters have been developed, optimized, and performed. The shot-to-shot intensity stability has been studied in detail for the electron and the laser beams, simultaneously. The PHIN photoinjector has been commissioned between 2008 and 2010 during intermittent operations. This paper reports on the obtained results in order to demonstrate the feasibility and the stability of the required beam parameters.