Transition between amplified spontaneous emission and superfluorescence in a longitudinally pumped medium by an x-ray free-electron-laser pulse

Abstract

The transition from the amplification of spontaneous emission to superfluorescence in a three-level and swept-gain medium excited by an X-ray free electron laser pulse is theoretically investigated. Given the specific time scale of X-ray free electron laser pulse, we investigate the swept pumping process in detail and our results show that the temporal structure of an X-ray free electron laser pulse plays a more critical role than its peak intensity does for producing population inversion. The typical watershed of two radiant regions depends on the optical depth of the gain medium for a given coherence time, namely, particle number density and the medium length are equally important. However, we find that medium length plays more important role than particle density does for making the forward-backward asymmetry. The transient gain length and the total medium length are identified as two important factors to observe length induced backward transition. The present results suggest an application of parametric controls over a single-pass-amplified light source.