First observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission in a free-electron laser at 109 nm wavelength

We present the first observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) in a free-electron laser (FEL) in the vacuum ultraviolet regime at 109 nm wavelength (11 eV). The observed free-electron laser gain (approximately 3000) and the radiation characteristics, such as dependency on bunch charge, angular distribution, spectral width, and intensity fluctuations, are all consistent with the present models for SASE FELs.     

Observation of anomalously large spectral bandwidth in a high-gain self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser

Observation of ultrawide bandwidth, up to 15% full-width, high-gain operation of a self-amplified spontaneous emission free-election laser (SASE FEL) is reported. This type of lasing is obtained with a strongly chirped beam (deltaE/E approximately 1.7%) emitted from the accelerator. Because of nonlinear pulse compression during transport, a short, high current bunch with strong mismatch errors is injected into the undulator, giving high FEL gain. Start-to-end simulations reproduce key features of the measurements and provide insight into mechanisms, such as angular spread in emitted photon and electron trajectory distributions, which yield novel features in the radiation spectrum.     

Time-resolved phase measurement of a self-amplified free-electron laser

We report on the first time-resolved phase measurement on self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free-electron laser (FEL) pulses. We observed that the spikes in the output of such free-electron laser pulses have an intrinsic positive chirp. We also observed that the energy chirp in the electron bunch mapped directly into the FEL output. Under certain conditions, the two chirps cancel each other. The experimental result was compared with simulations and interpreted with SASE theory.     

Undulators and generation of X-ray pulses in free-electron lasers with self-amplified spontaneous emission

The results of theoretical examination and comparative analysis of synchrotron radiation sources (specifically, undulators and X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs)) are presented. The problem of generation of shorter radiation pulses is prioritized; undulator systems and their corresponding FELs, which are considered to be the most promising in terms of generation of high-frequency ultrashort pulses of such radiation (in particular, in the X-ray range) are studied. The possibility of generation of higher harmonics is explored. The advantages and disadvantages of single-pass (with no reflecting elements) and multi-pass (with mirrors) FEL lasing schemes are revealed. The potential to reduce the duration of laser pulses produced by undulators and FELs and use them as sources of femtosecond pulses is investigated. The prospects for further development of X-ray free-electron lasers and the ways to improve the quality of their radiation with the given parameters are discussed.     

Femtosecond and subfemtosecond x-ray pulses from a self-amplified spontaneous-emission-based free-electron laser

We propose a novel method to generate femtosecond and subfemtosecond photon pulses in a free-electron laser by selectively spoiling the transverse emittance of the electron beam. Its merits are simplicity and ease of implementation. When the system is applied to the Linac Coherent Light Source, it can provide x-ray pulses the order of 1 fs in duration containing about 10(10) transversely coherent photons.     

Observation of self-amplified spontaneous emission and exponential growth at 530 nm

Experimental evidence for self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) at 530 nm is reported. The measurements were made at the low-energy undulator test line facility at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. The experimental setup and details of the experimental results are presented, as well as preliminary analysis. This experiment extends to shorter wavelengths the operational knowledge of a linac-based SASE free-electron laser and explicitly shows the predicted exponential growth in intensity of the optical pulse as a function of length along the undulator.     

Characterization of a chaotic optical field using a high-gain, self-amplified free-electron laser

We report on a characterization of the chaotic optical field from a high-gain, self-amplified spontaneous-emission (SASE) free-electron laser. The temporal structure of the amplitude and phase are measured in a single-shot mode, with a resolution well below the coherence length, and the statistics over multiple pulses is determined. The measurement is in excellent quantitative agreement with the prediction based on analysis of random noise, and further verifies the chaotic nature of the SASE optical field.     

Self-induced harmonic generation in a storage-ring free-electron laser

Coherent radiation from a relativistic electron beam is a valuable way to overcome the present limitations of conventional lasers and synchrotron radiation light sources. The typical scheme has electrons, directly from a linac, in a single-pass interaction with a laser pulse in the presence of a static undulator magnetic field. We demonstrate that a storage-ring free-electron laser can also achieve harmonic generation (down to 36.5 nm), presenting both experimental and theoretical results, and offer a reliable interpretation of the peculiar underlying physical processes involved.     

高增益自由电子激光饱和态分析的三维统计理论

考虑电子束横向发射度和电子β振荡,将2005年国际上提出的单通过高增益自由电子激光饱和状态分析的统计物理方法发展到三维情形。首先建立一种描述电子三维运动的归一化简化模型,推导了一维光场下包含电子横向运动的Vlasov方程。在螺旋型波荡器情形下通过引入横向运动守恒量发展了三维统计物理分析方法,并编写了相应计算程序,计算自由电子激光达到饱和时系统的光强增益、聚束因子。作为对比验证,编写包含N个电子自由电子激光系统的三维直接数值模拟程序,结果表明数值模拟和统计计算结果相一致。对比文献中一维模拟和一维统计理论计算结果,所得结果反映了电子束横向发射度以及电子在波荡器中的横向β振荡对饱和点参数的影响。     

高增益自由电子激光饱和态分析的三维统计理论

考虑电子束横向发射度和电子振荡,将2005年国际上提出的单通过高增益自由电子激光饱和状态分析的统计物理方法发展到三维情形。首先建立一种描述电子三维运动的归一化简化模型,推导了一维光场下包含电子横向运动的Vlasov方程。在螺旋型波荡器情形下通过引入横向运动守恒量发展了三维统计物理分析方法,并编写了相应计算程序,计算自由电子激光达到饱和时系统的光强增益、聚束因子。作为对比验证,编写包含N个电子自由电子激光系统的三维直接数值模拟程序,结果表明数值模拟和统计计算结果相一致。对比文献中一维模拟和一维统计理论计算结果,所得结果反映了电子束横向发射度以及电子在波荡器中的横向振荡对饱和点参数的影响。     

Plasma-aided radiation guiding in a free-electron laser

The introduction of a plasma in a free-electron laser (FEL) helps radiation guiding via nonlinear refraction. At high-radiation power density, when oscillatory electron velocity is comparable to the electron thermal velocity, the radiation pushes plasma radially out, forming a depleted plasma duct and guiding the radiation. The radius of the self-trapped laser is ~c/ω_po, where ω_po is the unperturbed plasma frequency and c is the velocity of light in vacuum     

Experimental characterization of superradiance in a single-pass high-gain laser-seeded free-electron laser amplifier

In this Letter we report the first experimental characterization of superradiance in a single-pass high-gain free-electron laser (FEL) seeded by a 150 femtosecond (FWHM) Ti:sapphire laser. The nonlinear energy gain after an exponential gain regime was observed. We also measured the evolution of the longitudinal phase space in both the exponential and superradiant regimes. The output FEL pulse duration was measured to be as short as 81 fs, a roughly 50% reduction compared to the input seed laser. The temporal distribution of the FEL radiation as predicted by a numerical simulation was experimentally verified for the first time.     

Self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser with an energy-chirped electron beam and undulator tapering

We report the first experimental implementation of a method based on simultaneous use of an energy chirp in the electron beam and a tapered undulator, for the generation of ultrashort pulses in a self-amplified spontaneous emission mode free-electron laser (SASE FEL). The experiment, performed at the SPARC FEL test facility, demonstrates the possibility of compensating the nominally detrimental effect of the chirp by a proper taper of the undulator gaps. An increase of more than 1 order of magnitude in the pulse energy is observed in comparison to the untapered case, accompanied by FEL spectra where the typical SASE spiking is suppressed.     

Generating optical orbital angular momentum in a high-gain free-electron laser at the first harmonic

A scheme to generate intense coherent light that carries orbital angular momentum (OAM) at the fundamental wavelength of an x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) is described. The OAM light is emitted as the dominant mode of the system until saturation provided that the helical microbunching imposed on the electron beam is larger than the shot-noise bunching that leads to self-amplified emission. Operating at the fundamental, this scheme is more efficient than alternate schemes that rely on harmonic emission, and can be applied to x-ray FELs without using external optical mode conversion elements.