Longitudinal Bunch Shaping at Picosecond Scales using Alpha-BBO Crystals at the Advanced Superconducting Test Accelerator

The Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) electron injector at Fermilab will enable a broad range of experiments at a national laboratory in order to study and develop solutions to the limitations that prevent the propagation of high intensity beams at picosecond lengths. One of the most significant complications towards increasing short-beam intensity is space-charge, especially in the vicinity of the gun. A few applications that require a longitudinally shaped electron beam at high intensities are for, the generation of THz waves and dielectric wakefields, each of which will encounter the effects of longitudinal space-charge. This paper investigates the effects of longitudinal space-charge on alpha-BBO UV laser shaped electron bunches in the vicinity of the 1½cell 1.3 GHz cylindrically symmetric RF photocathode gun.