Generation of GW radiation pulses from a VUV free-electron laser operating in the femtosecond regime

Experimental results are presented from vacuum-ultraviolet free-electron laser (FEL) operating in the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mode. The generation of ultrashort radiation pulses became possible due to specific tailoring of the bunch charge distribution. A complete characterization of the linear and nonlinear modes of the SASE FEL operation was performed. At saturation the FEL produces ultrashort pulses (30-100 fs FWHM) with a peak radiation power in the GW level and with full transverse coherence. The wavelength was tuned in the range of 95-105 nm.     

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     

Coherent single-cycle pulses with MV/cm field strengths from a relativistic transition radiation light source

Terahertz (THz) pulses with energies up to 100 μJ and corresponding electric fields up to 1 MV/cm were generated by coherent transition radiation from 500 MeV electron bunches at the free-electron laser Freie-Elektronen-Laser in Hamburg (FLASH). The pulses were characterized in the time domain by electro-optical sampling by a synchronized femtosecond laser with jitter of less than 100 fs. High THz field strengths and quality of synchronization with an optical laser will enable observation of nonlinear THz phenomena.     

Acceleration complex for extreme ultraviolet nanolithography based on a free-electron laser with kilowatt-scale average radiation power

The project of an acceleration complex is described that is based on a 0.7-GeV superconducting linear accelerator for the free-electron laser used for extreme ultraviolet lithography at a 13.5-nm wavelength with a 0.5-kW average power of laser radiation, as well as for examination of materials using X-ray and vacuum-ultraviolet radiations.     

Plasma density gratings induced by intersecting laser pulses in underdense plasmas

Electron and ion density gratings induced by two intersecting ultrashort laser pulses at intensities of 10¹⁶ W/cm² or lower are investigated. The ponderomotive force generated by the inhomogeneous intensity distribution in the intersecting region of the interfering pulses produces deep electron and ion density modulations at a wavelength less than a laser wavelength in vacuum. Dependence of the density modulation on the plasma densities, temperatures, and the ion mass, as well as the laser pulse parameters are studied analytically and by particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that the density peaks of such gratings can be a few times that of the initial plasma density and last as long as a few picoseconds. It is also demonstrated that the scattering of signal pulses by such a bulk density grating results in high-harmonic generation. The density gratings may be incorporated into ion-ripple lasers [K.R. Chen and J.M. Dawson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 29 (1992)] to generate ultrashort X-ray pulses of a few angstroms by using electron beams at only a few tens of MeV only. PACS 52.35.Mw; 42.65.Ky; 52.25.Os     

小周期波荡器自由电子激光器：数值模拟与实用化设计

采用三维自洽非线性理论计算方法,针对小周期波荡器自由电子激光器进行了数值模拟计算研究.结果表明,在我所现有脉冲线加速器基础上,采用周期为10mm的波荡器,可获得输出功率为20MW,波长为1.7mm的自由电子激光.最后给出实用化总体实验设计方案.     

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     

A new powerful source for coherent VUV radiation: Demonstration of exponential growth and saturation at the TTF free-electron laser

We present experimental evidence that the free-electron laser at the TESLA Test Facility has reached the maximum power gain of 10⁷ in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region at wavelengths between 80 and 120 nm. At saturation the FEL emits short pulses with GW peak power and a high degree of transverse coherence. The radiation pulse length can be adjusted between 30 fs and 100 fs. Radiation spectra and fluctuation properties agree with the theory of high gain, single-pass free-electron lasers starting from shot noise. Received 26 April 2002 Published online 28 June 2002     

Ultra-high order harmonic generation via a free electron laser mechanism

In this paper,by using the"frequency up-conversion"principle with a high gain harmonic generation free electron laser and an external seed laser,we consider the possibility of modulating a relativistic electron beam on the attosecond scale,so that it can produce coherent spontaneous radiation from the deep ultraviolet to the hard X-ray spectral region with a very short radiator.Analytical estimation and three-dimensional numerical modeling show the great potential to reach ultra-high harmonics up to several thousand.For an electron bunch with the typical quality as in the free electron laser scheme and a seed laser with 800 nm wavelength,0.8 nm attosecond trains with alterable duration and GW scale peak power are modeled.The output radiation exhibits good shot-to-shot stability,full coherence and perfect tuning ability between the discrete harmonics of the seed frequency.     

Gain dynamics of two-wavelength Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser

We report the theory and experiments of a two-wavelength bi-tuning femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The cross-mode-locked gain competition is described with numerical solution and operation of the laser is accomplished in which two trains of femtosecond pulses cross in the Ti:sapphire rod. For this reason, a cross-bearings technique is used. The laser resonator is a six-mirror bi-cavity, and two beams of pump lights cross in Ti:sapphire crystal. Two trains of sub-30 fs cross-mode-locked pulses have been generated with independent tunable wavelength when the pump power of the argon laser is approximately 5 W. As the design of the bi-cavity is fine, not only strong gain competition is overcome, but also stable output characteristics are performed. Received: 21 July 1998 / Revised version: 5 January 1999 / Published online: 30 July 1999     

Observation of a cw dark-field signal in an absorption spectroscopic experiment using a phase locked free-electron laser

We introduce a technique for ultrasensitive absorption spectroscopy using the GHz-rate pulse train from a phase-locked free-electron laser (FEL), in which the fractional power absorbed from one or more laser lines reappears as a signal on the dark background between the pulses emerging from the sample. Preliminary absorption experiments in 15 Torr cm of methane at 3.25 &mgr;m, using phase-locked pulses from the Mark III FEL, clearly reveal an interpulse beat signal due to absorption by adjacent molecular rotational lines which is generated only in the presence of interpulse phase coherence.     

Attosecond pulse trains driven by IR pulses spectrally broadened via supercontinuum generation in solid thin plates

We utilized a set of fused silica thin plates to broaden the spectrum of 1kHz, 30 fs Ti:sapphire amplified laser pulses to an octave. Following the compression by chirped mirror pairs, the generated few-cycle pulses were focused onto an argon filled gas cell. We detected high order harmonics corresponding to a train of 209 as pulses, characterized by the reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transition(RABITT) technique. Compared with the conventional attosecond pulse trains, the broad harmonics in such pulse trains cover more energy range, so it is more efficient in studying some typical cases, such as resonances, with frequency resolved RABITT. As the solid thin plates can support high power supercontinuum generation, it is feasible to tailor the spectrum to have different central wavelength and spectral width, which will make the RABITT source work in different applications.     

Depolarization of white light generated by ultrashort laser pulses in optical media

We report measurements of the extinction ratio (ER) of white light generated upon irradiation of BK7 glass by ultrashort (36 fs) laser pulses with incident power approximately 10(3) times larger than the critical power for self-focusing. At low incident powers, the continuum is symmetric about the incident laser wavelength; at high powers it becomes broader and distinctly asymmetric towards the blue side. We observe that ER degrades by 100-fold after the onset of multiphoton-induced free-electron generation (at incident intensity approximately 2 TW cm-2), which also corresponds to the onset of asymmetry in white-light spectra.     

Sub-100-ps amplitude-modulation mode-locked Tm-Ho:BaY2F8 laser at 2.06 microm

We report the generation of sub-100-ps pulse trains near the 2.06-microm wavelength in an actively mode-locked diode-pumped Tm-Ho:BaYF laser operating at room temperature. Transform-limited, 97-ps Gaussian pulses at a 100-MHz repetition rate with an average power in excess of 20 mW and with a carrier wavelength tunable by approximately 50 nm near 2.066 microm are demonstrated.     

Monte carlo analysis of a free electron laser in a storage ring

This paper contains studies of the operation of a one-dimensional storage ring free-electron laser (FEL) using a Monte Carlo technique to generate the electron energy fluctuations produced by the FEL. The energy and phase equations of motion have been numerically integrated to calculate equilibrium values of: a) electron energy spread, b) electron phase spread (e.g. electron bunch length), and c) efficiency of conversion of electron energy into laser radiation. The operation of the storage ring free-electron laser was studied for five different FEL magnet designs. It is found that a “one-dimensional” storage ring free-electron laser can operate on a steady-state basis only with reduced overall efficiency due to the inability of the system to damp effectively the electron energy fluctuations produced by the FEL. Results of operation of a SRFEL in a pulsed mode are also presented. Work supported by U.S. Army BMD-ATC, under contract number DASG 60-77-C-0083.     

Plasma-based advanced accelerators at the Brookhaven Accelerator Test Facility

The Accelerator Test Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL ATF) offers to its users a unique combination of research tools that include a high-brightness 70-MeV electron beam, a mid-infrared (λ = 10 μm) CO₂ laser of terawatt power, and a capillary discharge as a plasma source. These cutting-edge technologies have enabled us to launch a new R&;D program at the forefronts of advanced accelerators and radiation sources. The main subjects that we are researching are innovative methods of producing wakes in a linear regime using plasma resonance with the electron microbunch train periodic to the laser’s wavelength and so-called “seeded” laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) that is driven and probed by a combination of electron and laser beams. We describe the present status of the ATF experimental program, including simulations and preliminary experiments; in addition, we review previous ATF experiments that were the precursors to the present program. They encompass our demonstration of longitudinal-and transverse-field phasing inside the plasma wave, plasma channeling of intense CO₂ laser beams, and the generation of e-beam microbunch trains by the inverse FEL technique.     

Observation of free-electron-laser-induced collective spontaneous emission (superfluorescence)

We have observed and characterized 501.6 nm collective spontaneous emission (superfluorescence) following 1s(2) → 1s3p excitation of helium atoms by 53.7 nm free-electron laser radiation. Emitted pulse energies of up to 100 nJ are observed, corresponding to a photon number conversion efficiency of up to 10%. We observe the peak intensity to scale as ρ(2) and the emitted pulse width and delay to scale as ρ(-1), where ρ is the atom number density. Emitted pulses as short as 1 ps are observed, which corresponds to a rate around 75,000 times faster than the spontaneous 1s3p → 1s2s decay rate. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of superfluorescence following pumping in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength region, and extension of the technique to the generation of extreme ultraviolet and x-ray superfluorescence pulses should be straightforward by using suitable atomic systems and pump wavelengths.     

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.