High-power test of the new 3-dB power splitter for the PAL XFEL S-band LINAC RF system

The 3-dB power splitter to be used in the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ay Free-electron Laser (PAL XFEL), which have been under construction since 2011, must operate at a peak power of 400 MW and a repetition rate of 120 Hz. For these operational conditions of the PAL XFEL, the old 3-dB power splitter that was originally designed to be used in the PLS LINAC will most suffer from RF breakdown. Therefore, for the new 3-dB power splitter, the original design has been modified to reduce the field gradient and the surface current. The new 3-dB power splitter is designed by using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. We have fabricated a prototype, and the result of a high-power test indicates that the RF performance of the new 3-dB power splitter satisfies the specifications of the PAL XFEL S-band LINAC RF system.