A Temporal Retrieval Method for Modulated Electron Bunches via Adaptive Kernel Reconstruction

Femtosecond electron beams with complex modulation play a crucial role in applications such as X-ray Free Electron Lasers (XFELs) and plasma wakefield accelerators. However, diagnostics for the electron beam current profile still face challenges with complex structure. In this letter, we propose a novel temporal retrieval algorithm for the coherent transition radiation (CTR) diagnostics of complex modulated electron beams. Starting from the time-frequency analysis of the electron bunch train, the algorithm separates and reconstructs the high- and low-frequency components. A temporal kernel was derived from the inverse sampling of the measured spectrum to construct the high-frequency component, while the low-frequency envelope was composed of several basis functions. Tested on the electron bunch trains from the complex multi-gaussian model and bunching-enhanced coherent harmonic generation, the algorithm successfully reconstructed the temporal signals and achieves better performance than the Kramers-Kronig method. This method is expected to crucial provide temporal evidence for potential electron beam modulation schemes, and will enable broad prospects for future applications.