Differences between intra- and extra-cavity pulse time structure ina hole-coupled free-electron laser

In the strong-slippage regime of a free-electron laser, the optical pulse inside the resonator is composed of a series of subsequently growing and decaying subpulses due to a limit-cycle oscillation. The picosecond time structure of the outcoupled pulses can be quite different from that of the intracavity pulse, in case of outcoupling through a hole and for specific resonator parameters. This is demonstrated by autocorrelation measurements and corroborated by simulations     

Continuously tunable, high-power, single-mode radiation from a short-pulse free-electron laser

This paper gives the first demonstration of high-power, continuously tunable, narrowband radiation that is produced by means of a free-electron laser (FEL) in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. A Fox-Smith intracavity étalon was used to induce phase coherence between the 40 optical micropulses that were circulating in the laser cavity. The corresponding phase-locked spectrum consisted of a comb of discrete frequencies separated by 1 GHz. A pair of external Fabry-Pérot étalons was used to filter out a single line from this spectrum. The power in the selected narrow line at 69 microm wavelength was equal to 250 mW during the macropulse of the laser. The spectral width of the selected line is as small as that of a single cavity mode, i.e., a fraction of 25 MHz, in single macropulses of the laser. The average bandwidth of 25 MHz is determined by mode hopping of the phase-locked FEL. The selected frequency hops over 25 MHz between the extrema of this band. The influence of partially coherent spontaneous emission and mode hopping on the final linewidth was studied. The narrow-linewidth radiation was scanned in frequency over 1 GHz. We show that the possibilities to scan over smaller or larger frequency intervals are unlimited.     

Intracavity filtering of the spectrum of a short-pulse FEL byinducing interpulse phase coherence

The number of active cavity modes in the short-pulse free-electron laser FELIX was reduced by a factor of 40 at a constant level of the saturated power. This was achieved by inducing phase-coherence between the 40 optical micropulses that are independently amplified at 1 GHz in the 25-MHz cavity. A 1-GHz Fox-Smith intracavity etalon was used to this aim. The resulting spectrum consists of a comb of frequencies that are spaced by 1 GHz. Based on a CW frequency analysis of the coupled cavities we predict that the individual frequencies have a linewidth of 170 kHz. The stability of the selected frequencies was analyzed. Mode hopping over 25 MHz was occasionally observed between macropulses of the laser, but not actually during the macropulse. Simulations by means of a simple pulse evolution model corroborated this behavior. We show that the comb of resonant frequencies can be scanned over a range of 1 GHz by scanning the length of the intracavity etalon. The work presented here gives the theoretical and experimental background of single-linewidth experiments that will be described in a separate paper. The latter experiments concern the selective transmission of a single cavity mode from the phase-locked signal by means of external etalons. This single line should be narrow, stable, and continuously tunable for high-power high-resolution experiments in the far-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum     

Coherent spontaneous emission and spontaneous phase locking in afree-electron laser

We present measurements that demonstrate the existence of spontaneous coherence between independently generated laser pulses in the FELIX free-electron laser. The experiments show that the interpulse coherence is caused by a high level of coherently enhanced spontaneous emission. We have been able to manipulate the level of interpulse coherence by changing the settings of the electron accelerating system. The shape of the electron bunches critically determines the amount of coherent emission. Results of simulations of the acceleration process are used to discuss the influence of the accelerator parameters on the electron bunch shape. The experimentally determined correlation function of the laser pulses is reproduced by a simple pulse-evolution model. Thereby, an estimate of the timing jitter of the RF accelerating system is obtained