Timing control of an intense picosecond pulse laser to the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation pulses

Abstract

We have developed a control system to synchronize intense picosecond laser pulses to the hard x-ray synchrotron radiation (SR) pulses of SPring-8. A regeneratively amplified mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser is synchronized to 40 ps SR pulses by locking the laser to the radio frequency of the ring. The synchronization of the pulses is monitored by detecting both beams simultaneously on a gold photocathode of a streak camera. This method enabled us to make a precise measurement of the time interval between the beams, even if the trigger of the streak camera drifts. Synchronization between the laser and the SR pulses has been achieved with a precision of ±2 ps for some hours. The stable timing control ensures the possibility of making two-photon excitation and pump–probe experiments with time resolution of a few tens of ps (limited by the pulse duration of the SR). We have used this system to show that closing undulator gaps in the storage ring shifts the arrival time of the SR pulses, in accord with expectations for the increased power loss.