Free Electron Laser Weapons and Electron Beam Transport

The Navy is exploring the possibility of using a MW class free electron laser (FEL) as a ship self-defense weapon against anti-ship missiles. The Navy has helped fund the construction of a KW average power FEL and has held workshops to discuss weapons class FELs. A design workshop resulted in two possible MW FELs which are examined. One of these designs, the MW regenerative amplifier FEL, is looked at further to determine the feasibility of its design parameters. The second design, the MW oscillator FEL, presents a challenge in understanding the electron beam transport phenomena known as coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR). A workshop concluded that CSR is potentially disruptive in the electron beam recovery in the oscillator design. Possible CSR experiments are analyzed to help the Navy's Directed Energy office determine which, if any, CSR experiment will be useful.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'Free Electron Laser Weapons and Electron Beam Transport', published 1997 under ISBN 9781423570073 and ISBN 1423570073.