A common issue encountered in photoemission electron sources used in electron accelerators is the transverse inhomogeneity of the laser distribution resulting from the laser-amplification process and often use of frequency up conversion in nonlinear crystals. A inhomogeneous laser distribution on the photocathode produces charged beams with lower beam quality. In this paper, we explore the possible use of microlens arrays (fly-eye light condensers) to dramatically improve the transverse uniformity of the drive laser pulse on UV photocathodes. We also demonstrate the use of such microlens arrays to generate transversely-modulated electron beams and present a possible application to diagnose the properties of a magnetized beam.
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