In this paper we discuss extending the operating wavelength range of tunable Regenerative Amplifier FELs to shorter wavelengths than current design proposals, notably into the XUV regions of the spectrum and beyond where the reflectivity of broadband optics is very low. Simulation studies are presented which demonstrate the development of good temporal coherence in generic systems with a broadband radiation feedback of less than one part in ten thousand.
XUV 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 utilised for many experiments previously possible at long wavelengths only: 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 the asymmetry of the photoelectron angular distribution was controlled by adjusting the phase, with temporal resolution 3 attoseconds. This opens the door to new shortwavelength coherent control experiments with ultrahigh time resolution and chemical sensitivity.
A technique is proposed to generate attosecond pulse trains of radiation from a Free-Electron Laser amplifier. The optics-free technique synthesises a comb of longitudinal modes by applying a series of spatio-temporal shifts between the co-propagating radiation and electron bunch in the FEL. The modes may be phase-locked by modulating the electron beam energy at the mode spacing frequency. Three-dimensional simulations demonstrate the generation of a train of 400as pulses at giga-watt power levels evenly spaced by 2.5fs at a wavelength of 124 Angstrom. In the X-ray at wavelength 1.5 Angstrom, trains of 23as pulses evenly spaced by 150as and of peak power up to 6GW are predicted.
We report on the phase-locking of two diode lasers based on self-seeded tapered amplifiers. In these lasers, a reduction of linewidth is achieved using narrow-band high-transmission interference filters for frequency selection. The lasers combine a compact design with a Lorentzian linewidth below 200 kHz at an output power of 300 mW. We characterize the phase noise of the phase-locked laser system and study its potential for coherent beam-splitting in atom interferometers.
Frequency pulling is a well-known phenomenon in standard laser physics, leading to a shift of the laser frequency when the cavity and maximum gain frequencies are detuned. In this letter we present the first experimental demonstration of frequency pulling in single-pass free-electron lasers. Measurements are performed using the single-pass free-electron laser installed on the Elettra storage ring.
We propose a two-magnet design of a drift region for a free-electron laser without inversion (FELWI). By performing direct calculations of the phase shifts for electrons passing the drift region, we prove that the small-signal gain integrated over the detuning is positive and is inversely proportional to the energy spread of the ``hot electron beam. The dispersion and the geometry of the drift region are specified, and the requirements to the electron beam quality, including the transverse size and the angular spread, are found.