2005 International Free Electron Laser Prize Winner:
Avi Gover
This year the FEL Prize Committee awarded the FEL Prize to Avraham (Avi) Gover from Tel-Aviv
University for his pioneering work in laying the foundation of FEL theory.
Avi Gover, presently head of the FEL Knowledge Center in Israel, has been a member of the FEL community from the very beginning, publishing his first paper on FELs in 1976. In those early years, he played a key role in putting FEL theory on a firm basis by showing the similarities between FELs, 'ordinary' lasers and other free electron radiation devices such as TWTs. In later years he made important contributions to the formulation of a unified theory of superradiant emission in the linear and, more recently, also in the non-linear regime. His deep understanding of the field enabled him to propose conceptually new schemes like stimulated superradiance and post-saturation emission enhancement. In addition to his extensive work and contributions to FEL theory, he also led and contributed to a number of experimental projects aimed at studies of fundamental effects and at the development of new FEL device schemes. Most notably the demonstration of a two-stage BWO FEL and a longitudinal wiggler FEL, demonstration of electron trapping in two counter propagating laser beams and of single-mode locking in a prebunched FEM. He has also been the main driving force behind the international efforts to develop high-average power masers based on electrostatic accelerators in the inverted setup, that is with the undulator at high voltage. Along this line, he also took the initiative for an Israeli FEM user facility and notwithstanding the difficult funding situation in his country, this facility is now operational at the College of Judea and Samaria in Ariel.