Abstract
The combination of advanced high-power laser technology, new acceleration methods and achievements in undulator development offers the opportunity to build compact, high-brilliance free electron lasers driven by a laser wakefield accelerator. Here, we present a simulation study outlining the main requirements for the laser–plasma-based extreme ultraviolet free electron laser setup with the aim to reach saturation of the photon pulse energy in a single unit of a commercially available undulator with the deflection parameter K0 in the range of 1–1.5. A dedicated electron beam transport strategy that allows control of the electron beam slice parameters, including collective effects, required by the self-amplified spontaneous emission regime is proposed. Finally, a set of coherent photon radiation parameters achievable in the undulator section utilizing the best experimentally demonstrated electron beam parameters are analyzed. As a result, we demonstrate that the ultra-short, few-fs-level pulse of the photon radiation with the wavelength in the extreme ultraviolet range can be obtained with the peak brilliance of ∼7×1028 photons/pulse/mm2/mrad2/0.1%bw.
Highlights
In recent years, linac-based free electron lasers (FEL), as a deliverer of coherent X-ray pulses, changed the scientific landscape
Analyzing the published experimental results obtained by different groups [14], one can identify typical parameters of the electron bunch expected from the laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) as follows: (1) the normalized transverse root mean square (RMS) emittance of the electron beam is in the range of (0.2–0.5) π μm rad for the electron beam with the peak energy of up to 1 GeV; (2) the RMS transverse divergence is in the range of (0.5–1) mrad; (3) the RMS energy spread with the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) bunch length of a few μm can be reduced down to 1%, keeping the bunch charge of a few tens of pC
A comprehensive analysis of the LWFA electron beam main parameters has been performed in order to provide the saturation of the photon energy in the single-unit
Summary
Linac-based free electron lasers (FEL), as a deliverer of coherent X-ray pulses, changed the scientific landscape. By means of numerical simulations, that the proposed setup is capable of generating high-brilliance coherent photon radiation in the EUV wavelength range, reaching energy saturation only in the single-unit 3.5 m planar undulator. This offers the opportunity to build compact and cost-effective FEL suitable for user applications with an output peak photon brilliance comparable to the existing linac-based EUV-FEL facilities such as FLASH (Germany) [19] and FERMI (Italy) [20]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
