Design of an Electron Beam Energy Control Loop Using Transverse Dispersion

Stability in mean electron beam energy is of highest interest for a number of experiments performed at the ELBE accelerator. Energy drifts affect parameters of the generated Bremsstrahlung spectra, X-rays or infrared light, as well as the beam trajectory at the production targets or through the FEL waveguide, respectively.
In practise, we observe a slow drifting of the effective accelerating field during the first hours after a machine power-up or after switching to different nominal beam energies. Initially, this effect was compensated manually. A first order automation solution has been developed that corrects the resulting energy drift continuously, using a non-intrusive beam position monitor placed in a transversely dispersive part of the beam guide.
This paper describes the beam line setup and the simplified dynamic model of the control loop derived from it. Calculation of controller parameters using standard a standard method is shown. The user interface of the control system and working conditions for the loop are explained. Operational performance and conclusions towards improvements close this contribution.