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abstract:
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Power beaming from ground-based systems to space-based platforms has been proposed by a number of researchers as a means of delivering energy to orbiting satellites and stations. This paper considers the use of a seeded high-gain high-efficiency Free-Electron Laser (FEL) amplifier based on a conventional linac as the source for power beaming. While the wall-plug efficiency of a single pass FEL is likely to be considerably lower than a recirculating system, electrical efficiency is unlikely to be a serious consideration for first-generation power-beaming systems. Moreover, the simplicity of the proposed scheme scales well from existing and completed experiments.
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