Patent ID: 9065244
Filing Date: 2015-06-23
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. A high average power free electron laser (HAPFEL) comprising: a pair of oppositely disposed RF electron guns configured to generate counter-propagating electron beams; a pair of energy recovery linacs (ERLs), each ERL configured to accelerate a pristine electron beam and decelerate a counter-propagating exhaust electron beam effectively recovering exhaust electron beam energy and transferring the energy to the pristine electron beam, wherein the RF electron guns and the ERLs define a fixed physical configuration for generating the counter-propagating electron beams and recovering the exhaust electron beam energy; and a gain generator configured to utilize available energy from both of the counter-propagating electron beams to generate a laser beam, wherein the gain generator is reconfigurable without physically reconfiguring hardware supporting the counter-propagating electron beams.