Relativistic-Klystron two-beam accelerator as a power source for future linear colliders

The technical challenge for making two-beam accelerators into realizable power sources for high-energy colliders lies in the creation of the drive beam and in its propagation over long distances through multiple extraction sections. This year we have been constructing a 1.2-kA, 1-MeV, induction gun for a prototype relativistic klystron two-beam accelerator (RK-TBA). The electron source will be a 8.9 cm diameter, thermionic, flat-surface cathode with a maximum shroud field stress of approximately 165 kV/cm. Additional design parameters for the injector include a pulse length of over 150-ns flat top (1% energy variation), and a normalized edge emittance of less than 300 pi-mm-mr. The prototype accelerator will be used to study, physics, engineering, and costing issues involved in the application of the RK-TBA concept to linear colliders. We have also been studying optimization parameters, such as frequency, for the application of the RK-TBA concept to multi-TeV linear colliders. As an rf power source the RK-TBA scales favorably up to frequencies around 35 GHz. An overview of this work with details of the design and performance of the prototype injector, beam line, and diagnostics will be presented.