Beam dynamics simulations of optically-enhanced field emission from structured cathodes

Structured cathodes – cathodes with a segmented emission surface – are finding an increasing number of applications and can be combined with a variety of emission mechanisms, including photoemission and field emission. These cathodes have been used to enhance the quantum efficiency of metallic cathodes when operated as plasmonic cathodes, have produced high-current electron bunches though field emission from multiple tips, and can be used to form beams with transverse segmentations necessary for improving the performance of accelerator-based light sources. In this report we present recent progress towards the development of finite-difference time-domain particle-in-cell simulations using the emission process in structured cathodes based on the WARP framework. The simulations give further insight on the localized source of the emitted electrons which could be used for additional high-fidelity start-to-end simulations of electron accelerators that employ this type of electron source.