Design and simulation study on an RF linear accelerator cavity and photocathode RF-gun

In this study, two important parts of a radio frequency linear accelerator (Linac), Photocathode RF Gun and Accelerator Cavity are designed for an operation at 2.99855 GHz. Two commercially available powerful simulator programs, Superfish® and CST Microwave Studio®, are used to make design and simulations numerically. First, the electron generating Photocathode RF Gun design is completed. The results of two simulators were found to be consistent with each other. The small differences were attributed to the different algorithms and numerical approximations of the both software. By using the design parameters of the gun, the design of Accelerator Cavity is made to accelerate the particles coherently with the gun. Finally, the fundamental design parameters describing the characteristics of linac such as shunt impedance, quality factor, R/Q ratio and peak power dissipation are calculated and discussed.