Light source system and method of operation

1 . A light source system comprising:

a first kicker configured to:

receive an input electron beam comprising a plurality of electron bunches; and

deflect electron bunches of the electron beam substantially within a first plane, thereby spatially separating the input electron beam into a first plurality of electron beams;

a second kicker configured to:

receive the first plurality of electron beams; and

deflect electron bunches of the first plurality of electron beams substantially within a second plane, thereby spatially separating the first plurality of electron beams into a second plurality of electron beams; and

a septum configured to:

receive a subset of the second plurality of electron beams; and

deflect electron beams of the subset substantially within the second plane.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising an array of quadrupole magnets arranged substantially along an array axis and defining a focusing-defocusing (FODO) lattice, the FODO lattice defining a period length, the array axis defined along an intersection of the first plane and the second plane, the array comprising:

a first magnet arranged between the first kicker and the second kicker, the first magnet configured to focus the first plurality of electron beams substantially within the first plane;

a second magnet arranged between the second kicker and the septum, the second magnet arranged substantially half a period length along the array axis from the first magnet, the second magnet configured to focus the second plurality of electron beams substantially within the second plane; and

a third magnet arranged between the second magnet and the septum, the third magnet arranged substantially half of a period length along the array axis from the second magnet and substantially one period length along the array axis from the first magnet, the third magnet configured to focus the electron beams of the subset substantially within the first plane.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the third magnet is further configured to receive a second subset of the second plurality of electron beams and to focus the electron beams of the second subset substantially within the first plane, the system further comprising

a second septum configured to:

receive the subset of the second plurality of electron beams; and

deflect electron beams of the subset substantially within the second plane.

4 . The system of claim 3 , further comprising a fourth magnet arranged along the array axis between the septum and the second septum, wherein:

the fourth magnet is arranged substantially half of a period length along the array axis from the third magnet and substantially one period length along the array axis from the second magnet; and

the fourth magnet is configured to focus the second plurality of electron beams substantially within the second plane.

5 . The system of claim 4 , further comprising a fifth magnet arranged along the array axis between the fourth magnet and the second septum, wherein:

the fifth magnet is arranged substantially half of a period length along the array axis from the fourth magnet and substantially one period length along the array axis from the third magnet;

the fifth magnet is configured to focus the subset of the second plurality of electron beams substantially within the first plane; and

the second septum is configured to receive the subset of the second plurality of electron beams from the fifth magnet.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the first plane is substantially orthogonal to the second plane.

7 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the first plane is substantially orthogonal to the second plane.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first plane is substantially orthogonal to the second plane.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein:

the second plurality of electron beams comprises a first, second, third, and fourth electron beam; and

the subset comprises the third and fourth electron beams.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the second plurality of electron beams comprises a first, second, third, and fourth electron beam; and

the subset comprises the third and fourth electron beams.

11 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising:

a first radiator module comprising a first undulator, the first radiator module configured to receive the first electron beam and, at the first undulator, generate a first light output via free-electron lasing;

a second radiator module comprising a second undulator, the second radiator module configured to receive the second electron beam and, at the second undulator, generate a second light output via free-electron lasing;

a third radiator module comprising a third undulator, the third radiator module configured to receive the third electron beam and, at the third undulator, generate a third light output via free-electron lasing; and

a fourth radiator module comprising a fourth undulator, the fourth radiator module configured to receive the fourth electron beam and, at the fourth undulator, generate a fourth light output via free-electron lasing.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

a third kicker configured to:

receive the first electron beam and the second electron beam; and

deflect at least one beam substantially within a third plane, thereby recombining the first and second electron beams into a first recombined beam, wherein the at least one beam is selected from the group consisting of: the first electron beam and the second electron beam; and

a fourth kicker configured to:

receive the third electron beam, the fourth electron beam, and the first recombined beam; and

deflect at least two beams substantially within a fourth plane, thereby recombining the third electron beam, the fourth electron beam, and the first recombined beam into a second recombined beam, wherein the at least two beams are selected from the group consisting of: the third electron beam, the fourth electron beam, and the first recombined beam.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first plane is parallel to the third plane.

14 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising an accelerator module comprising an energy recovery loop (ERL), the accelerator module configured to:

provide a first subset of the plurality of electron bunches to the first kicker; and

at the ERL, receive the first subset of the plurality of electron bunches after the first subset of the plurality of electron bunches traverse the fourth kicker.

15 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a second accelerator module comprising a second ERL, the second accelerator module configured to:

provide a second subset of the plurality of electron bunches to the first kicker; and

at the second ERL, receive the second subset of the plurality of electron bunches after the second subset of the plurality of electron bunches traverse the fourth kicker.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first radiator module further comprises:

a fifth kicker configured to receive the first electron beam and split the first electron beam into a third plurality of spatially-separated electron beams;

a plurality of undulators, the plurality comprising the first undulator, wherein, for each electron beam of the third plurality: the plurality of undulators comprises a respective undulator configured to receive the respective electron beam and generate a respective light output via free-electron lasing; and

a sixth kicker configured to receive the third plurality of electron beams and recombine the third plurality of electron beams into a third recombined beam.

17 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of radiator modules, each radiator module of the plurality comprising a respective undulator, wherein, for each electron beam of the second plurality: a respective radiator module of the plurality is configured to receive the respective electron beam and, at the respective undulator, generate a respective light output via free-electron lasing.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein, for each radiator module of the plurality, the respective radiator module comprises:

a respective splitting kicker configured to receive a respective electron beam and split it into a respective plurality of spatially-separated electron beams;

for each electron beam of the respective plurality: a respective undulator configured to receive the respective electron beam and generate a respective light output via free-electron lasing; and

a respective recombining kicker configured to receive the respective plurality of spatially-separated electron beams and recombine them into a respective recombined electron beam.

19 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the first kicker deflects a first subset of electron bunches in a first direction, deflects a second subset of electron bunches in a second direction opposing the first direction, and does not substantially deflect a third subset of electron bunches;

the first subset of electron bunches define a first redirected beam;

the second subset of electron bunches define a second redirected beam;

the third subset of electron bunches define a remainder beam;

the second kicker deflects a fourth subset of electron bunches of the remainder beam in a third direction and deflects a fifth subset of electron bunches of the remainder beam in a fourth direction opposing the third direction;

the fourth subset of electron bunches define a third redirected beam; and

the fifth subset of electron bunches define a fourth redirected beam.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein:

the first subset of electron bunches consists of about 25% of the electron bunches of the plurality;

the second subset of electron bunches consists of about 25% of the electron bunches of the plurality;

the third subset of electron bunches consists of about 50% of the electron bunches of the plurality;

the fourth subset of electron bunches consists of about 25% of the electron bunches of the plurality; and

the fifth subset of electron bunches consists of about 25% of the electron bunches of the plurality.