Photo-cathodes for the CERN CLIC Test Facility

Since 1993 the CLIC Test Facility (CTF) has used laser-illuminated Tellurium Alkali photo-cathodes as intense electron sources (up to 50 nC in 10 ps), for the Drive Beam of a two-beam accelerator. These cathodes have been produced and tested in our photo­emission laboratory and transported under vacuum to the CTF. They are placed in a 3 GHz RF gun with a 100 MV/m electric field. This RF gun produces a train of 48 pulses, each of 13.4 nC charge and 10 ps length. The CTF Probe Beam has used air­transportable cesium iodide + germanium photo­cathodes in another RF gun, which produces a single pulse of the same duration but with only 1 nC charge. The optical damage threshold in the laser is the main limitation of energy available on the photo­cathode. From an operational point of view, the photo­cathode lifetime is defined to be the time during which the cathode is able to produce the nominal charge with the nominal laser energy. After having recalled the main characteristics of the photo-cathodes tested, this note describes in more detail the performa nce obtained in operation. The possibility of photo-cathode production at the RF gun in a simplified evaporation chamber will also be discussed.