No Arabic abstract
We demonstrate the possibility to run a single-pass free-electron laser in a new dynamical regime, which can be exploited to perform two-colour pump-probe experiments in the VUV/X-ray domain, using the free-electron laser emission both as a pump and as a probe. The studied regime is induced by triggering the free-electron laser process with a powerful laser pulse, carrying a significant and adjustable frequency chirp. As a result, the emitted light is eventually split in two sub-pulses, whose spectral and temporal separations can be independently controlled. We provide a theoretical description of this phenomenon, which is found in good agreement with experiments performed on the FERMI@Elettra free-electron laser.
We present the experimental demonstration of a method for generating two spectrally and temporally separated pulses by an externally seeded, single-pass free-electron laser operating in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. Our results, collected on the FERMI@Elettra facility and confirmed by numerical simulations, demonstrate the possibility of controlling both the spectral and temporal features of the generated pulses. A free-electron laser operated in this mode becomes a suitable light source for jitter-free, two-colour pump-probe experiments.
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.
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.
The spectroscopic techniques for time-resolved fine analysis of matter require coherent X-ray radiation with femtosecond duration and high average brightness. Seeded free-electron lasers (FELs), which use the frequency up-conversion of an external seed laser to improve temporal coherence, are ideal for providing fully coherent soft X-ray pulses. However, it is difficult to operate seeded FELs at a high repetition rate due to the limitations of present state-of-the-art laser systems. Here, we report the novel self-modulation method for enhancing laser-induced energy modulation, thereby significantly reducing the requirement of an external laser system. Driven by this scheme, we experimentally realize high harmonic generation in a seeded FEL using an unprecedentedly small energy modulation. An electron beam with a laser-induced energy modulation as small as 1.8 times the slice energy spread is used for lasing at the 7th harmonic of a 266-nm seed laser in a single-stage high-gain harmonic generation (HGHG) setup and the 30th harmonic of the seed laser in a two-stage HGHG setup. The results mark a major step towards a high-repetition-rate, fully coherent X-ray FEL.
We put forward a co-axial pump(optical)-probe(X-rays) experimental concept and show performance of the optical component. A Bessel beam generator with a central 100 micrometers-diameter hole (on the optical axis) was fabricated using femtosecond (fs) laser structuring inside a silica plate. This flat-axicon optical element produces a needle-like axial intensity distribution which can be used for the optical pump pulse. The fs-X-ray free electron laser (X-FEL) beam of sub-1 micrometer diameter can be introduced through the central hole along the optical axis onto a target as a probe. Different realisations of optical pump are discussed. Such optical elements facilitate alignment of ultra-short fs-pulses in space and time and can be used in light-matter interaction experiments at extreme energy densities on the surface and in the volume of targets. Full advantage of ultra-short 10 fs X-FEL probe pulses with fs-pump(optical) opens an unexplored temporal dimension of phase transitions and the fastest laser-induced rates of material heating and quenching. A wider field of applications of fs-laser-enabled structuring of materials and design of specific optical elements for astrophotonics is presented.