First Operation Results of the Superconducting Photoinjector at ELBE

In November 2007 the first electron beam was generated from the superconducting RF photo electron gun installed at the ELBE linear accelerator facility. The injector together with a sophisticated laser system and a diagnostic beam line were developed and constructed within a collaboration of BESSY, DESY, MBI and FZD. Delivering a CW beam with up to 1 mA average current, a significant improvement of the beam quality like an increase of the bunch charge up to 1 nC and a reduced transverse emittance will be obtained. After the cool-down of the cryostat the RF properties of the 3½-cell niobium cavity like pass band mode frequencies, unloaded quality factor versus accelerating gradient, Lorentz force detuning, and He pressure influence were measured. The first beam was extracted of a Cu photo cathode using a 262 nm UV laser system with a repetition rate of 100 kHz and about 0.4 W laser power. Later, caesium telluride photo cathodes will be applied. The installed diagnostics allow beam current, energy, energy spread, transverse emittance and bunch length measurements of the beam. The results of these measurements and the operational experiences with the gun will be presented.