Third generation light sources

Head of the Accelerator Physics Group of the Diamond Light Source since 2005.
  • Diamond booster commissioning December 2005 - June 2006.
  • Diamond storage ring commissioning May 2006 - January 2007.
Recent interests include
  • Non-linear beam dynamics studies for the optimisation of the performance of the Diamond storage ring. Analysis and correction of nonlinear resonances. [ref PRSTAB].
  • Analysis of microbunching instability and corresponding THz emission.
  • Ultra short X-ray pulse generation from the storage ring (low-alpha operation).
  • Analysis of the ground motion and its effect on the beam. Strategies to improve the stability.

Fourth generation light sources

Within the New Light Source (NLS) Project:
  • LINAC design and optimisation for the New Light Source.
  • Ultrashort (attoseconds) radiation pulse generation from a FEL.
Early studies on the beam dynamics at SPARC and SPARX projects at ENEA, Frascati, (I).

Laser plasma wakefield accelerator light source

Within the OPALS project:
  • Feasibility studies of a soft X-ray FEL driven by a Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerator.
  • Interaction of HHG seeds with ultrashort electron pulses and corresponding FEL dynamics.

Beam dynamics

Within the PhD thesis at CERN:
  • Analysis of the nonlinear magnetic errors in LHC main dipoles and their effect on the dynamic aperture. The canonical perturbative theory for symplectic mappings (Normal Forms) and the Fourier analysis of the time series were used to characterize and, when possible, correct the effects of the nonlinear errors on the beam dynamics.
  • Development of fast algorithms for high precision tune measurement based on interpolation of the FFT spectrum. Application to Laskar's Frequency Maps of the betatron motion.
  • Definition of sorting strategies for the correction of the random multipolar errors in the LHC main dipoles.
See also non linear beam dynamics in storage rings.

FEL Physics

Storage ring FEL studies at Frascati ENEA in collaboration with Super-Aco and Elettra
  • Modelling the storage ring FEL dynamics using both phenomenological approaches and tracking codes.
  • Suppression of longitudinal instabilities with the FEL radiation: an early version of the laser heater. [ref PRL].
Compact FEL facility at Frascati ENEA:
  • Operation of a mm-wave compact free electron laser. [ref PRL].
  • Studies on the radiation emitted by pre-bunched beams: an early version of SACSE. [ref IEEE JQE].
See also FEL activity within the OPALS project.