Since the 1980s synchrotron light sources have been considered as drivers of a high repetition rate (RR), high gain free electron laser (FEL) inserted in a by-pass line or in the ring itself. As of ...today, the high peak current required by the laser is not deemed to be compatible with the standard multi-bunch filling pattern of synchrotrons, and in particular with the operation of insertion device (ID) beamlines. We show that this problem can be overcome by virtue of magnetic bunch length compression in a ring section, and that, after lasing, the beam returns to equilibrium conditions without beam quality disruption. Bunch length compression brings a double advantage: the high peak current stimulates a high gain FEL emission, while the large energy spread makes the beam less sensitive to the FEL heating and to the microwave instability in the ring. The beam's large energy spread at the undulator is matched to the FEL energy bandwidth through a transverse gradient undulator. Feasibility of lasing at 25 nm is shown for the Elettra synchrotron light source at 1 GeV, and scaling to shorter wavelengths as a function of momentum compaction, beam energy and transverse emittance in higher energy, larger rings is discussed. For the Elettra case study, a low (100 Hz) and a high (463 kHz) FEL RR are considered, corresponding to an average FEL output power at the level of ∼1 W (∼1013 photons per pulse) and ∼300 W (∼1011 photons per pulse), respectively. We also find that, as a by-product of compression, the ∼5 W Renieri's limit on the average FEL power can be overcome. Our conclusion is that existing and planned synchrotron light sources may be made compatible with this new hybrid IDs-plus-FEL operational mode, with little impact on the standard beamlines functionality.
Classical terahertz spectroscopy usually requires the use of Fourier transform or Time-Domain Spectrometers. However, these classical techniques become impractical when using recent high peak power ...terahertz sources – based on intense lasers or accelerators – which operate at low repetition rate. We present and test the design of a novel Time-Domain Spectrometer, that is capable of recording a whole terahertz spectrum at each shot of the source, and that uses a 1550 nm probe fiber laser. Single-shot operation is obtained using chirped-pulse electro-optic sampling in Gallium Arsenide, and high bandwidth is obtained by using the recently introduced Diversity Electro-Optic Sampling (DEOS) method. We present the first real-time measurements of THz spectra at the TeraFERMI Coherent Transition Radiation source. The system achieves 2.5 THz bandwidth with a maximum dynamic range reaching up to 25 dB. By reducing the required measurement time from minutes to a split-second, this strategy dramatically expands the application range of high power low-repetition rate THz sources.
Minimizing transverse emittance is essential in linear accelerators designed to deliver very high brightness electron beams. Emission of coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR), as a contributing factor ...to emittance degradation, is an important phenomenon to this respect. A manner in which to cancel this perturbation by imposing certain symmetric conditions on the electron transport system has been suggested.We first expand on this idea by quantitatively relating the beam Courant-Snyder parameters to the emittance growth and by providing a general scheme of CSR suppression with asymmetric optics, provided it is properly balanced along the line. We present the first experimental evidence of this cancellation with the resultant optics balance of multiple CSR kicks: the transverse emittance of a 500 pC, sub-picosecond, high brightness electron beam is being preserved after the passage through the achromatic transfer line of the FERMI@Elettra free electron laser, and emittance growth is observed when the optics balance is intentionally broken. We finally show the agreement between the theoretical model and the experimental results. This study holds the promise of compact dispersive lines with relatively large bending angles, thus reducing costs for future electron facilities.
Control of the microbunching instability is a fundamental requirement in modern high-brightness electron linacs, in order to prevent misleading responses of beam optical diagnostics and contamination ...in the generation of coherent radiation, such as free electron lasers. We present the first experimental demonstration of control and suppression of microbunching instability by means of particles' longitudinal phase mixing in a magnetic chicane. In the presence of phase mixing, the intensity of the beam-emitted optical transition radiation, which is used as an indicator of the instability gain at optical wavelengths, is reduced by one order of magnitude and brought to the same level provided, alternatively, by beam heating. The experimental results are in agreement with particle tracking and analytical evaluations of the instability gain. This article is extended to a discussion of applications of magnetic-phase mixing to the generation of quasicold high-brightness ultrarelativistic electron beams.
The optimal performance of high-brightness free-electron lasers (FELs) is limited by the microbunching instability, which can cause variations in both the slice energy spread and longitudinal profile ...of electron beams. In this paper, we perform 2D Fourier analysis of the full bunch longitudinal phase space, such that modulations in both planes can be studied simultaneously. Unlike the standard 1D analysis, this method is able to reveal modulations in a folded phase space, which would otherwise remain uncovered. Additionally, the plasma oscillation between energy and density modulations is also revealed by this method. The damping of the microbunching instability, through the use of a laser heater, is also analysed with this technique. We confirm a mitigation of the amplitude of modulation and a red-shift of the microbunching frequency as the energy spread added increases. As an outcome of this work, a systematic experimental comparison of the development of the instability in the presence of different compression schemes is here presented for the first time.
Nonlinear optical processes at soft x-ray wavelengths have remained largely unexplored due to the lack of available light sources with the requisite intensity and coherence. Here we report the ...observation of soft x-ray second harmonic generation near the carbon K edge (∼284 eV) in graphite thin films generated by high intensity, coherent soft x-ray pulses at the FERMI free electron laser. Our experimental results and accompanying first-principles theoretical analysis highlight the effect of resonant enhancement above the carbon K edge and show the technique to be interfacially sensitive in a centrosymmetric sample with second harmonic intensity arising primarily from the first atomic layer at the open surface. This technique and the associated theoretical framework demonstrate the ability to selectively probe interfaces, including those that are buried, with elemental specificity, providing a new tool for a range of scientific problems.
We report the first generation of coherent, tunable, variable-polarization, soft X-ray femtosecond pulses, generated by a seeded free-electron laser (FEL) operating in the fresh bunch, two-stage ...harmonic upshift configuration. Characterization of the radiation proves this FEL configuration can produce single-transverse-mode, narrow-spectral-bandwidth output pulses of several tens of microjoules energy and low pulse-to-pulse wavelength jitter at final wavelengths of 10.8 nm and below. The fresh bunch configuration enhances the FEL emission at high harmonic orders by avoiding a gain depression due to the energy spread induced by the first-stage FEL interaction. Coherent signals measured down to 4.3 nm suggest this configuration is directly scalable to photon energies that will enable scientific investigations below the carbon K-edge, including access to the L-edges of many magnetic materials, with an energy per pulse unlocking the gate for experiments in the soft X-ray region with close to Fourier-transform-limited pulses.A seeded free-electron laser with a two-stage harmonic upshift configuration provided tunable and coherent soft-X-ray pulses. The configuration produced single-transverse-mode, narrow-spectral-bandwidth femtosecond pulses with energies of several tens of microjoules and a low pulse-to-pulse wavelength jitter at wavelengths of 10.8 nm and below.
Light can be strongly confined in subwavelength spatial regions through the interaction with plasmons, the collective electronic modes appearing in metals and semiconductors. This confinement, which ...is particularly important in the terahertz spectral region, amplifies light-matter interaction and provides a powerful mechanism for efficiently generating nonlinear optical phenomena. These effects are particularly relevant in graphene and topological insulators, where massless Dirac fermions show a naturally nonlinear optical behavior in the terahertz range. The strong interaction scenario has been considered so far from the point of view of light. In this Letter, we investigate instead the effect of strong interaction on the plasmon itself. In particular, we will show that Dirac plasmons in Bi2 Se3 topological insulator are strongly renormalized when excited by high-intensity terahertz radiation by displaying a huge red-shift down to 60% of its characteristic frequency. This opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulators.
Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) produce short-wavelength pulses with high intensity, ultrashort duration, well-defined polarization and transverse coherence, and have been ...utilized for many experiments previously possible only at long wavelengths: multiphoton ionization, pumping an atomic laser and four-wave mixing spectroscopy. However one important optical technique, coherent control, has not yet been demonstrated, because self-amplified spontaneous emission FELs have limited longitudinal coherence. Single-colour pulses from the FERMI seeded FEL are longitudinally coherent, and two-colour emission is predicted to be coherent. Here, we demonstrate the phase correlation of two colours, and manipulate it to control an experiment. Light of wavelengths 63.0 and 31.5 nm ionized neon, and we controlled the asymmetry of the photoelectron angular distribution by adjusting the phase, with a temporal resolution of 3 as. This opens the door to new short-wavelength coherent control experiments with ultrahigh time resolution and chemical sensitivity.
The FERMI free-electron lasers Allaria, E.; Badano, L.; Bassanese, S. ...
Journal of synchrotron radiation,
20/May , Letnik:
22, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
FERMI is a seeded free‐electron laser (FEL) facility located at the Elettra laboratory in Trieste, Italy, and is now in user operation with its first FEL line, FEL‐1, covering the wavelength range ...between 100 and 20 nm. The second FEL line, FEL‐2, a high‐gain harmonic generation double‐stage cascade covering the wavelength range 20–4 nm, has also completed commissioning and the first user call has been recently opened. An overview of the typical operating modes of the facility is presented.
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