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.     

Efficiency and sideband observations of a Raman FEL oscillator witha tapered undulator

Power and spectral measurements are reported from the Columbia Raman free-electron laser (FEL) oscillator experiment. High-power radiation pulses (~12 MW, 100 ns) are generated at a wavelength of ~2.5 mm, using a 750-kV electron beam injected into a helical undulator. The undulator is made up of a 40-cm long constant-period (1.45 cm) section followed by an equal length of tapered undulator. The period is decreased by 7.6% in such a way that the on-axis field remains constant. It is reported that the taper allows an increase in total power efficiency from ~4 to ~12%. Most noteworthy is that the tapered undulator reduces the sideband radiation compared with a constant-period undulator FEL which is studied in the same configuration. The power was measured calorimetrically and compared with the results of a 1-D Raman code. The reduction of sideband power observed in the experiment was consistent with computational results obtained with a 2-D sideband code     

Fully coherent x-ray pulses from a regenerative-amplifier free-electron laser

We propose and analyze a regenerative-amplifier free-electron laser (FEL) to produce fully coherent, hard x-ray pulses. The method makes use of narrow-bandwidth Bragg crystals to form an x-ray feedback loop around a relatively short undulator. Self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) from the leading electron bunch in a bunch train is spectrally filtered by the Bragg reflectors and is brought back to the beginning of the undulator to interact repeatedly with subsequent bunches in the bunch train. The FEL interaction with these short bunches regeneratively amplifies the radiation intensity and broadens its spectrum, allowing for effective transmission of the x rays outside the crystal bandwidth. The spectral brightness of these x-ray pulses is about 2 to 3 orders of magnitude higher than that from a single-pass SASE FEL.     

Undulator beamline optimization with integrated chicanes for X‐ray free‐electron‐laser facilities

An optimization of the undulator layout of X‐ray free‐electron‐laser (FEL) facilities based on placing small chicanes between the undulator modules is presented. The installation of magnetic chicanes offers the following benefits with respect to state‐of‐the‐art FEL facilities: reduction of the required undulator length to achieve FEL saturation, improvement of the longitudinal coherence of the FEL pulses, and the ability to produce shorter FEL pulses with higher power levels. Numerical simulations performed for the soft X‐ray beamline of the SwissFEL facility show that optimizing the advantages of the layout requires shorter undulator modules than the standard ones. This proposal allows a very compact undulator beamline that produces fully coherent FEL pulses and it makes possible new kinds of experiments that require very short and high‐power FEL pulses.     

Optimization of the lattice function in the planar undulator applied for terahertz FEL oscillators

Since the beta function of the electron beam within the undulator has a great influence on the power gain of the free electron laser (FEL), optimization of the undulator lattice becomes important. In this paper, the transfer matrix of the planar undulator is obtained from differential equations of the electron motion. Based on this, the lattice function of the planar undulator in a terahertz FEL oscillator proposed by Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST-FEL) is optimized and the expressions of the average beta function are derived. The accuracy of the optimization result was confirmed well by the numerical method. The application range of this analytical method is given as well. At last, the emittance growth in the horizontal direction due to the attenuation of the magnetic field is discussed.     

Development of an Algorithm for Magnet Sorting and Field Shimming for TPS Elliptically Polarized Undulators

A spatially periodic magnetic field is essential to cause an electron beam to wiggle and to emit electromagnetic radiation in a synchrotron (SR) source of radiation, and to provide fully coherent light in free electron lasers (FEL). To create this field, permanent magnets (PM) or electromagnets are patterned in a device commonly called an insertion device for SR and a radiator or modulator for FEL. In reality, magnet blocks or iron poles are not identical, in terms of geometry and magnetic properties, even with progressive manufacture. Compensatory methods are thus desired to recover the magnetic field and also to decrease the duration of construction. Magnet sorting is a pre-process that aims to eliminate the effect of manufacturing error. Before assembly of an insertion device, data of each component, especially the magnetic properties of each magnet block and the gap variation of mechanical structure, are organized to optimize the performance of the magnetic field. After that process, there is sometimes an optimization to shim the magnetic field. An effective algorithm of both processes is significant, particularly for a long undulator and an elliptically polarized undulator (EPU).     

An analysis of undulator optimization in self-seeding free electron lasers

A simple analysis is given for the optimum length of undulator in a self-seeding free electron laser(FEL).The obtained relations show the correlation between the undulator length and the system parameters.The power required for the seeding in the second part of the undulator and the overall efficiency of monochromatizating the seeding determine the length of the first part of the undulator;the magnitude of seeding power dominates the length of the second part of the undulator;the whole length of the undulator in a self-seeding FEL is determined by the overall efficiency for getting coherent seed,and is about half as long again as that of SASE,not including the dispersion section.The requirement of the dispersion section strength is also analyzed.     

Phase‐merging enhanced harmonic generation free‐electron laser with a normal modulator

A phase‐merging enhanced harmonic generation free‐electron laser (FEL) was proposed to increase the harmonic conversion efficiency of seeded FELs and promote the radiation wavelength towards the X‐ray spectral region. However, this requires a specially designed transverse gradient undulator (TGU) as the modulator to couple the transverse and longitudinal phase space of the electron beam. In this paper, the generation of the phase‐merging effect is explored using the natural field gradient of a normal planar undulator. In this method, a vertical dispersion on the electron beam is introduced and then the dispersed beam travels through a normal modulator in a vertical off‐axis orbit where the vertical field gradient is selected properly in terms of the vertical dispersion strength and modulation amplitude. The phase‐merging effect will be generated after passing through the dispersive chicane. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations for a seeded soft X‐ray FEL based on parameters of the Shanghai Soft X‐ray FEL project are presented. Compared with a TGU modulator, using the natural gradient of a normal planar modulator has the distinct advantage that the gradient can be conveniently tuned in quite a large range by adjusting the beam orbit offset.     

Three dimensional study of harmonic operation at the Shanghai deep ultraviolet free electron laser

With the right choice of parameters in the free electron laser (FEL) scheme, the undulator can be primarily operated at high order harmonic modes and the harmonic radiation is expected to be significantly enhanced. Recently, the possibility of proof-of-principle harmonic operation experiments on the basis of the Shanghai deep ultraviolet (SDUV) FEL test facility has been studied. In this paper, the principle of harmonic operation, three dimensional numerical approaches, and detailed performances of proposed harmonic operation at SDUV FEL are presented.     

Generation of Coherent Radiation in the Near X-Ray Band by a Cascade FEL with a Two-Frequency Undulator

Generation of X-ray radiation in a cascade self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser (SASE FEL) using the harmonics of a two-frequency undulator is studied. The advanced phenomenological model of a one-pass FEL that accounts for the main losses in real FELs is presented: the electron energy spread in the beam, the beam divergence, diffraction, and the fact that emission losses are greater at higher harmonics than in the main frequency range. The FEL mathematical model was performed using the Mathematica software and calibrated within the experiment carried out at the operating SPARC facility via complex three-dimensional numerical simulations. The phenomenological model is used to analyze FEL dynamics for generation of a high-energy X-ray emission at a relatively short length. It is proposed to use a two-frequency undulator for the initial electron grouping and subsequent frequency multiplication in a cascade FEL with higher harmonic amplification (HGHG). The advantages of the two-frequency undulator are presented for electron grouping at higher harmonics of the undulator radiation (UR). The operation of several types of FEL is simulated with amplification of the seed laser wave frequency in two and three cascades to generate the soft X-ray radiation. A seed laser with a wavelength of 11.43 nm corresponding to the peak reflectivity of mirror coatings with MoRu/Be is proposed for generating the intensive X-ray laser radiation with λ ~ 1.27–3.37 nm. Here, the intensive radiation power reaches 50 MW at a length of only 35 meters; the radiation shows good temporal coherence corresponding to the performance of a low-power seed laser with a lower frequency.     

Investigation of parameters of undulators with permanent magnets

Investigations of a hybrid type undulator for the terahertz FEL with ferrite magnets were carried out. The study began with an undulator simulation in FEMLAB environment and measurements on the created model. The work presents the results of study of the dependence of magnetic field on the height of the magnetic elements and study of the magnetic induction depending on the ratio of the width of magnetic elements to the distance between them. It is shown that the hybrid undulator scheme allows selecting the optimum parameters of the undulator. The obtained results can be used for choosing the optimum parameters of undulators of the terahertz-range FEL.     

Calculation and analysis of the magnetic field of a linearly tapered undulator

There is an empirical formula describing the relationship between the peak magnetic field and the undulator structure parameters for a uniform-parameter hybrid undulator.In this paper, we investigate the relationship for a linearly tapered undulator through numerical calculation by using the code RADIA, and check it with the empirical formula.The results imply that this empirical formula is also effective for linearly tapered undulators at a big enough scope for the requirements of normal FEL experiments.Therefore, for a linearly tapered undulator,we can use the empirical formula to design the variation of the undulator gap.For the tapering rate demanded by normal FEL experiments, the gap of a linearly tapered undulator increases almost linearly, and the tapering rate will keep constant while adjusting the undulator gap with the same variation for each undulator period.     

Generation of X-Ray Radiation in Free-Electron Lasers with Two-Frequency Undulators

Russian Physics Journal - The possibility of creating an x-ray laser with a two-frequency undulator with the help of the phenomenological model of a single-pass free-electron laser (FEL) that takes...     

Three dimensional study of harmonic operation at the Shanghai deep ultraviolet free electron laser

With the right choice of parameters in the free electron laser （FEL） scheme, the undulator can be primarily operated at high order harmonic modes and the harmonic radiation is expected to be significantly enhanced. Recently, the possibility of proof-of-principle harmonic operation experiments on the basis of the Shanghai deep ultraviolet （SDUV） FEL test facility has been studied. In this paper, the principle of harmonic operation, three dimensional numerical approaches, and detailed performances of proposed harmonic operation at SDUV FEL are presented.     

激光电子散射中的最大可能增益

借鉴自由电子激光(FEL)发展之初Madey对自由电子激光器中受激辐射引起的增益的讨论,通过在激光场中的量子电动力学(QED)的模型中引入激光电子系统初态态密度以及由不确定的系统初态到确定光子末态的跃迁速率,推导了激光电子正碰过程中受激辐射至单一电磁模式产生的最大可能增益。采用成功得到X射线或γ射线光子的三个激光电子Compton背散射实验的实验参数计算了激光电子散射过程中的最大可能增益,与第一台X射线自由电子激光(XFEL)中的最大可能增益作比较,进而对激光电子散射作为激光光源的可行性进行评估。计算结果表明,现有的能够得到X射线光子或γ射线光子的激光电子散射实验中的最大可能增益远低于第一台XFEL中的。本工作未能找到合适的激光电子参数以获得比第一台XFEL中更高的最大可能增益,但是在入射电磁波位于射频波段范围内找到了能够实现较高增益的参数组合。     

Numerical modeling of a high power terahertz source in Shanghai

On the basis of an energy-recovery linac, a terahertz source with a potential for kilowatts of average power is proposed in Shanghai, which will serve as an effective tool for material and biological sciences. In this paper, the physical design of two free electron laser (FEL) oscillators, in a frequency range of 2--10 THz and 0.5--2 THz respectively, are presented. By using three-dimensional, time-dependent numerical modeling of GENESIS in combination with a paraxial optical propagation code, the THz oscillator performance, the detuning effects, and the tolerance requirements on the electron beam, the undulator field and the cavity alignment are given.     

Studies of classical radiation emission from plasma wave undulators

The authors examine the characteristics of the classical radiation emitted by a relativistic electron beam that propagates perpendicularly through a large amplitude relativistic plasma wave. Such a study is useful for evaluating the feasibility of using relativistic plasma waves as extremely short wavelength undulators for generating short wavelength radiation. The electron trajectories in a plasma wave undulator are obtained using perturbation techniques and are then compared to numerical simulation results. The frequency spectrum and angular distribution of the spontaneous radiation emitted by a single electron and the stimulated radiation gain are obtained analytically, and are then compared to 3-D numerical simulations. The characteristics of the plasma wave undulator are compared to the AC free-electron laser (FEL) undulator and the conventional FEL     

Optical klystron experiments for the ACO storage ring Free Electron Laser

To improve the gain in the Orsay storage ring Free Electron Laser (FEL) experiment, the 17 period permanent magnet undulator has been modified to form an optical klystron (OK). We report the measurement of spontaneous emission and the effects on it of energy spread and angular spread. Gain and laser induced bunch lengthening measurements with the OK are also reported and are in very good agreement with the FEL classical theory. The spontaneous emission spectrum which is easy to measure with good signal to noise ratio, turns out to be a very good diagnostic tool forenergy spread and angular spread measurements on storage rings. The factor of four increase in the small gain obtained by converting the undulator NOEL into an OK was the critical factor in the recent operation of the ACO storage ring laser above threshold.     

Design,construction and characterization of the compact ultrafast terahertz free-electron laser undulator

A compact ultrafast terahertz (CUTE) free-electron laser (FEL) is being developed at the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore. The undulator required for the CUTE-FEL has recently been developed. We have designed, built and characterized a variable gap, 5 cm period, 2.5 m long pure permanent magnet undulator in two identical segments. The tolerable error in the magnetic field was 1% in rms, and we have measured it to be 0.7%. The obtained rms phase shake is around 2°. To ensure that the trajectories do not have an exit error in position or angle, corrector coils have been designed. Shimming coils have been applied for both the undulator segments to reduce the amplitude of the betatron oscillations in the vertical trajectory. Details of novel corrector coils and soft iron shims are given and their performance is discussed.      

Harmonic operation of high gain harmonic generation free electron laser

In high gain harmonic generation (HGHG) free electron laser (FEL), with the right choice of parameters of the modulator undulator, the dispersive section and the seed laser, one may make the spatial bunching of the electron beam density distribution correspond to one of the harmonic frequencies of the radiator radiation, instead of the fundamental frequency of the radiator radiation in conventional HGHG, thus the radiator undulator is in harmonic operation (HO) mode. In this paper, we investigate HO of HGHG FEL.Theoretical analyses with universal method are derived and numerical simulations in ultraviolet and deep ultraviolet spectral regions are given. It shows that the power of the 3rd harmonic radiation in the HO of HGHG may be as high as 18.5% of the fundamental power level. Thus HO of HGHG FEL may obtain short wavelength by using lower beam energy.