Abstract
FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, is a worldwide unique source for extremely bright ultra-short laser-like pulses tunable in a wide spectral range in the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray region (Ackermann et al 2007 Nat. Photonics 1 336–42). To fully exploit the features of this new generation of light sources, a user facility with efficient radiation transport to the experimental area and novel online photon diagnostics capable of characterizing the unique parameters of the FLASH radiation has been built. It serves a broad user community active in many scientific fields ranging from atomic and molecular physics to plasma and solid state physics as well as chemistry and biology. A special focus is placed on the exploitation of the ultra-short FLASH pulses using pump–probe techniques. Thus, the facility is equipped with optical and THz sources synchronized to FLASH. This paper gives a detailed overview of the FLASH user facility.
Highlights
FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, is a worldwide unique source for extremely bright ultra-short laser-like pulses tunable in a wide spectral range in the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray region
The objective of this paper is to give all relevant information on this novel user facility to scientists who may become interested in using FLASH for their own experiments
FLASH is a single-pass FEL lasing in the soft x-ray regime based on a 1 GeV superconducting linear accelerator described in detail in [1] and references therein
Summary
FLASH is a single-pass FEL lasing in the soft x-ray regime based on a 1 GeV superconducting linear accelerator described in detail in [1] and references therein. A photoinjector generates very high-quality electron bunch trains that are accelerated to relativistic energies of up to 1 GeV and produce soft x-ray radiation during a single pass through a 30 m long undulator, a periodic magnetic structure. The radiation moves faster than the electron bunch and interacts with electrons further up leading to a charge density modulation within the bunch with a period corresponding to the fundamental in the wavelength spectrum of the undulator This welldefined periodicity in the emitting bunch enhances the power and coherence of the radiation field exponentially, whereas the electron and the resulting photon bunch travel once through the long undulator without the need for a resonator. Online determination of important photon beam parameters, such as intensity, spectral distribution and temporal structure, are mandatory for most user experiments This requires diagnostics tools that operate in parallel to the user experiments and in a non-destructive way. New diagnostics concepts, such as an online spectrometer and intensity monitors, have been developed for FLASH
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