Free-electron Laser Oscillator Research Articles

Breakdown of argon by a train of high-repetition long-wave-infrared pulses from a free-electron laser oscillator

This study presents an experimental demonstration of laser-induced breakdown in argon, employing a free-electron laser with a wavelength of 10 μm and a repetition rate of 2.856 GHz. Despite the fluence of individual laser pulses being an order of magnitude smaller than the breakdown threshold, cascade ionization developed in the pulse train, leading to breakdown. The breakdown probability within a finite pulse train increases with gas pressure, and it was notably enhanced in a gas chamber with poor cleanliness. Numerical simulations of cascade ionization replicated the experimental results. The simulation revealed that breakdown phenomena are governed by the balance between avalanche multiplication of electrons within laser pulses and electron diffusion during pulse intervals.

Rapidly switchable x-ray orbital angular momentum from a free electron laser oscillator

X-ray vortices carrying tunable orbital angular momentum (OAM) are an emerging tool for x-ray characterization. However, in contrast to the generation of vortex beams in the visible wavelength region, the generation of x-ray vortices in a controlled manner has proved challenging. Here, we demonstrate an x-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) can adjust only the kinetic energy of the electron beam to produce vortex beams that can be programmed to dynamically change between different OAM modes, without the need for additional optical elements. With the nominal parameters of currently constructing 1 MHz repetition rate facility (i.e., Shanghai high-repetition-rate XFEL and Extreme Light Facility), the active formation of the OAM modes of l=±1 and l=±2 and the rapid switching between them by detuning the electron beam energy of the XFELO are numerically illustrated. The real-time switching can be achieved within 200 μs, while the output pulse energy can reach the 100 μJ level. This result extends the capabilities of XFELOs and paves the way for advanced at-source applications using x-ray vortex beams.

Generation of superposed orbital angular momentum beams using a free-electron laser oscillator.

With wavelength tunability, free-electron lasers (FELs) are well-suited for generating orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams in a wide photon energy range. We report here the first experimental demonstration of OAM beam generation using an oscillator FEL with the tens of picosecond pulse duration. Lasing around 458 nm, we have produced the four lowest orders of superposed Laguerre-Gaussian beams using a very long FEL resonator of 53.73 m. The produced beams have good beam quality, excellent stability, and substantial average power. We have also developed a pulsed operation mode for these beams with a highly reproducible temporal structure for a range of repetition rate of 1-30 Hz. This development can be extended to short wavelengths, for example to x-rays using a future x-ray FEL oscillator. The OAM operation of such a storage-ring FEL also paves the way for the generation of OAM gamma-ray beams via inverse Compton scattering.

Solving the spectral gap problem with a four-mirror bow-tie cavity in waveguide free-electron laser oscillators

The generation of intense coherent radiation pulses in the far-infrared and terahertz regimes is of considerable interest to the free-electron laser (FEL) radiation user community. At long wavelengths, the diffraction effect can be quite severe, therefore, an optical waveguide is required to confine the radiation field. However, it will also bring about some new phenomena, and the most noteworthy one is the spectral gap phenomenon: at some particular wavelengths, regardless of electron beam adjustments, the coupling efficiency and output power of waveguide FEL oscillators drop significantly. Such spectral gap has an adverse effect on experimental results since numerous experiments require continuous spectral scanning. In this paper, we propose to utilize a bow-tie cavity instead of conventional cavities to the waveguide FEL to solve the spectral gap problem. The simulation was carried out based on the parameters of FELiChEM, a newly built user facility in China. Numerical simulation code OPC combining with modified GENESIS is used to enable the modelling, for the first time, of a bow-tie cavity based FEL in the far-infrared wavelength regime. The simulation results indicate that this novel structure can effectively eliminate the spectral gaps and substantially enhance long-wavelength laser performance.

Nonlinear compression of naturally down-chirped superradiance pulses from a free-electron laser oscillator by thick germanium plates.

Naturally down-chirped superradiance pulses, with mirco-pulse energy, peak wavelength, and micropulse duration of 40 µJ, 8.7 μm, and 5.1 optical cycles, respectively, emitted from a free-electron laser (FEL) oscillator were nonlinearly compressed down to 3.7 optical cycles using a 30-mm-thick Ge plate. The peak power enhancement owing to nonlinear compression was found to be 40%. The achieved peak power and pulse duration were comparable to those of recently developed high-intensity and few-cycle long-wavelength infrared sources based on solid-state lasers. FEL oscillators operating in the superradiance regime can serve as unique tools for studying strong-field physics in long-wavelength infrared regions.

Wakefields in superconducting rf cavities and the impact on vacuum ultraviolet free-electron laser oscillator performance

Wakefields in superconducting rf cavities and the impact on vacuum ultraviolet free-electron laser oscillator performance

Mirror Vibration Tolerance Studies in X-ray Free-Electron Laser Oscillator

The X-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) has received significant attention due to its ability to produce fully coherent, high-brightness, and highly stable X-ray beams. Despite these advantages, the operation of the XFELO can be impeded by the surrounding environment. Specifically, vibrations of the optical components within the cavity can lead to poor alignment, which can diminish the interaction between the light and electrons in the undulator. Consequently, the quality of the output X-rays may be compromised. This study aims to investigate the impact of mirror vibrations on the output laser at various vibration frequencies. Firstly, we develop three single-frequency vibration models at 10 Hz, 0.01 MHz, and 1.1 MHz to investigate the changes in energy, spectral width, beam size, and beam divergence angle of the output laser. Secondly, we build a more complex multi-frequency vibration model based on the single-frequency one to simulate the realistic vibration of the mirror. Finally, we utilize the multi-frequency vibration model to investigate the tolerance limits of the output laser to vibration amplitude at different vibration frequencies of the mirror. The results show that the tolerance of the amplitude near the low and middle frequencies has less effect on the output power, which is approximately 250 nrad or more. However, in certain particular instances, particularly in the vicinity of the resonant frequency, there will be deviations from the tolerance limit. These deviations can result in values that are excessively high or excessively low. The study could prove useful in the future installation of XFELOs.

High-intensity single-pulse extraction using a laser-activated GaAs reflective switch for a terahertz free-electron laser

Single-pulse extraction from a terahertz (THz) pulse train is demonstrated for a free-electron laser oscillator using the laser-activated semiconductor switching technique with gallium arsenide (GaAs). Using a GaAs wafer as the switching substrate and a titanium sapphire laser (Ti:sapphire laser), a single THz pulse can be extracted with a high contrast from the pulse train at intervals of 37 ns in a simple experimental setup due to a short decay time of the electron–hole plasma. For a single THz pulse with a duration of a few to a few tens of picoseconds and a nominal wavelength of 70μm, we achieve an extracted single pulse energy of 76 μJ.

Sub-wavelength effects in a free electron laser oscillator.

Previous simulation studies of cavity based free electron lasers (FELs) have utilised models which average the optical field in the FEL interaction over an integer number of radiation wavelengths. In this paper, two unaveraged simulation codes, OPC and Puffin, are combined to enable modelling, for the first time, of a cavity based FEL at the sub-wavelength scale. This enables modelling of effects such as coherent spontaneous emission from the electron beam and sub-wavelength cavity length detuning. A cavity FEL operating in the mid-infrared is modelled and it is shown that, for small sub-wavelength cavity detunings, the FEL can preferentially lase at the third harmonic of the fundamental FEL wavelength. This novel result suggests other modes of operation may be possible and opens up cavity-based FEL operation to investigation of further, potentially useful, modes of operation.

Full characterization of superradiant pulses generated from a free-electron laser oscillator

The detailed structure of superradiant pulses generated from a free-electron laser (FEL) oscillator was experimentally revealed for the first time. Owing to the phase retrieval with a combination of linear and nonlinear autocorrelation measurements, we successfully reconstructed the temporal waveform of an FEL pulse including its phase variation. The waveform clearly exhibits the features of a superradiant pulse, the main pulse followed by a train of sub-pulses with π-phase jumps, reflecting the physics of light-matter resonant interaction. From numerical simulations, the train of sub-pulses was found to originate from repeated formation and deformation of microbunches accompanied with a temporal slippage of the electrons and light field, a process quite different from coherent many-body Rabi oscillations observed in superradiance from atomic systems.

Analytical study of FEL oscillator saturation state based on longitudinal ponderomotive bucket

Free Electron Laser(FEL) oscillator is the main working mode to produce infrared and THz wavelength range radiation. At FEL saturation state, the interaction between electron beams and radiation becomes nonlinear. Saturation power can be solved by numerical simulation of macro particle motion in longitudinal phase space or by semi-analytical formulae analogous to conventional laser system from previous study. While in this paper, the motions of macro-particle are depicted with analytical formulae in the assumption that energy transfer is mainly from captured electrons of ponderomotive bucket. Then corresponding electron beam extraction efficiency can be achieved due to initial and final state of electron beams. Therefore laser power is confirmed through equilibrium situation inside resonator cavity. These simple analytical formulae can be used to optimize output laser power and offer a better understanding in FEL oscillator saturation. Taking small signal gain regime as an example, the optimum FEL efficiency is obtained at gain to loss ratio around 4.1. This agrees well with the results of three-dimension simulation.

Transverse gradient undulator in a storage ring x-ray free electron laser oscillator

Modern electron storage rings produce bright x rays via spontaneous synchrotron emission, which is useful for a variety of scientific applications. The x-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) has the potential to amplify this output, both in terms of peak power and photon coherence. However, even current fourth generation storage rings (4GSRs) lack the requisite electron beam brightness to drive the XFELO due to its electron energy spread. The transverse gradient undulator (TGU) can overcome this issue, thus providing a practical means to couple the 4GSR to the XFELO. In this study, we first examine the theoretical basis of the TGU interaction by deriving the 3D TGU gain formula in the low gain approximation. Then, we perform an optimization study of the gain formula in order to determine optimal beam and machine parameters. Finally, we construct a hypothetical storage ring TGU-XFELO based on near-optimal parameters and report on its projected performance using multistage numerical simulation. We also discuss potential implementation challenges associated with the ring-FEL coupling.

Design of a megawatt superradiant terahertz source for FELiChEM

FELiChEM is an infrared free electron laser user facility built at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). It consists of two free electron laser oscillators which produce mid-infrared and far-infrared lasers covering the spectral range of 2–200 μm at current stage. In this paper, we propose a new operation mode of a megawatt (MW) terahertz (THz) superradiance free electron laser (FEL) for FELiChEM. Start-to-end (S2E) simulations have been carried out, in which the three-dimension particle-in-cell (PIC) code PUFFIN is used for the generation of the THz superradiance. Simulation results demonstrate that this superradiant FEL can provide 100–1000 μm laser with MW-class peak power from a 1.2 meter single-pass undulator when the electron energy is around 15 MeV.

Experimental setup for high-resolution characterization of crystal optics for coherent X-ray beam applications.

Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource serves a wide scientific community with its variety of X-ray capabilities. Recently, a wiggler X-ray source located at beamline 10-2 has been employed to perform high-resolution rocking curve imaging (RCI) of diamond and silicon crystals. X-ray RCI is invaluable for the development of upcoming cavity-based X-ray sources at SLAC, including the cavity-based X-ray free-electron laser and X-ray laser oscillator. In this paper, the RCI apparatus is described and experimental results are provided to validate its design. Future improvements of the setup are also discussed.

Deformation of an electron bunch caused by free-electron lasers

This study reported the longitudinal compression and extension of an electron bunch by free electron laser (FEL) interaction. By observing coherent edge radiation generated by an FEL facility at Kyoto University, which has the highest extraction efficiency of an FEL oscillation, we found that an electron bunch interacting with a cavity-type linac FEL elongated when a detuning length of an optical cavity was positive. The transition from compression to extension of the electron bunch was bounded by a perfect synchronism condition between the electron bunch and the FEL pulse, and the change rate of the root-mean-square bunch length was as high as 14%. Therefore, it was experimentally demonstrated that a slight temporal difference between the electron bunch and the optical pulse dramatically changed not only the FEL power but also the outline of electron distribution in the bunch.

Stability of Bragg reflectors under megahertz heat load at XFELs

Modern X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) sources can deliver photon pulses with millijoule pulse energies and megahertz repetition rate. As shown by the simulations in this work, for particular cases the dynamical heat load effects for Bragg reflectors could cause problems at these facilities. These problems would be underestimated if only quasi-static thermoelastic simulations are considered. Nevertheless, for the sake of simplicity the quasi-static approach is a common choice for estimating heat load effects. To emphasize the relevance of dynamical thermoelastic effects, the response to the partial absorption of an X-ray pulse, as provided by a saturated X-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) in a single crystal diamond with a thickness of 100 µm and lateral dimensions in the millimetre range, is discussed in this work. The outcome of the dynamic thermoelastic simulations indicates a clear dominance regarding the strain value reached, which is present for consecutive X-ray matter interactions with megahertz repetition rate.

Design of the nanopositioning and mechanical system for cavity-based X-ray free electron laser

With forming of an X-ray cavity with a set of narrow bandwidth diamond Bragg crystals and by storing and recirculating the output of an amplifier in an X- ray cavity so that the X-ray pulse can interact with following fresh electron bunches over many passes thus enabling the development of full temporal coherence, we will be able to build cavity-based X-ray FELs (CBXFELs) such as the X-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) and the X-ray regenerative amplifier free-electron laser (XRAFEL) [1, 2]. One of the key challenges to forming the X-ray cavity is the nanopositioning design and construction of the cavity mechanical system. In this paper, we present the design of the nanopositioning and mechanical system that is currently under construction for use in a proof-of-principle cavity-based X-ray free electron laser experiment at the LCLS-II at SLAC.

Misalignment effects on the performance and stability of x-ray free electron laser oscillator

We report on the effects of transverse spatial misalignment on the performance and stability of x-ray free electron laser oscillators (XFELOs). For this study, we adopt the FEL driven paraxial resonator model in which the transverse profile of the radiation field is represented by Gauss-Hermite mode expansion. Then, we apply Gaussian optics for transporting the radiation field along with the misalignment in the optical cavity. We divide the misalignment into relevant categories of static and periodic types to understand their effects on FEL gain, lasing, and saturation. After that, we associate the first order moments of the radiation field to that of driven simple harmonic oscillator models to identify regions of instability. Throughout this report, we validate our models and analyses via theoretical calculations, analytical approximations, and simulations.

Synchronised TeraHertz Radiation and Soft X-rays Produced in a FEL Oscillator

We present a scheme to generate synchronised THz and soft X-ray radiation pulses by using a free-electron laser oscillator driven by a high repetition rate (of order 10–100 MHz) energy recovery linac. The backward THz radiation in the oscillator cavity interacts with a successive electron bunch, thus producing few 105 soft/hard X-ray photons per shot (namely 1012–1013 photons/s) via Thomson/Compton back-scattering, synchronised with the mJ-class THz pulse within the temporal jitter of electron beams accelerated in the superconducting cavities of the linac (less than 100 fs). Detailed simulations have been performed in order to assess the capability of the scheme for typical wavelengths of interest, between 10 and 50 μm for the TeraHertz radiation and 0.5–3 nm for the X-rays.

High brilliance Free-Electron Laser Oscillator operating at multi-MegaHertz repetition rate in the short-TeraHertz emission range

We present the design study of an innovative scheme to generate high repetition rate (multi-MHz-class) THz radiation pulses by using an Energy Recovered Super Conducting Linac operating in Continuous Wave mode driving a Free-Electron Laser Oscillator. The FEL performance is illustrated for one and two color operation. Start-to-end simulations are presented to assess the capability of this scheme for typical values of wavelengths of interest in the 10–50μm (6–30 THz) range.