Free-electron Laser Radiation Research Articles

Observation of Free Induction Decay Signals of OH Radicals Excited by Terahertz Free-Electron Laser Pulses

The first experimental observation of free induction decay signals of free radicals is reported. The signals were observed on the line of the rotational transition of OH radicals in the terahertz region. OH radicals were generated by the chemical reaction of excited oxygen atoms with water molecules. Radicals were excited by free-electron laser radiation pulses. Free induction decay radiation was detected in real time using ultra fast terahertz radiation detectors. The possibility of using free induction decay signals of radicals as a new method for detection of free radicals in combustion processes is discussed.

Generating attosecond x-ray pulses through an angular dispersion enhanced self-amplified spontaneous emission free electron laser

We propose a scheme that can generate attosecond x-ray pulses through an angular dispersion enhanced self-amplified spontaneous emission (ESASE) free electron laser (FEL). In this scheme, an angular dispersion section is implemented into a conventional ESASE set-up, together with a few cycle laser pulse to manipulate the electron beam effectively. During the procedure, the transverse-longitudinal phase space coupling is introduced into the electron beam in addition to the energy modulation and momentum compaction processes. As a result, the peak current of the electron beam will be strengthened significantly within a narrow width of the electron bunch, which can be used to generate ultrashort FEL pulses. Comparing to a conventional ESASE scheme, the proposed scheme can reduce the required modulation laser power by at least one order of magnitude. The signal-to-noise ratio of the final FEL radiation pulses can also be improved. In addition, we discuss the possibility of using this scheme to generate two-pulse two-color x-ray FEL with tunable central wavelengths and time delays for a conceivable x-ray pump/x-ray probe experiment.

Electron beam dynamics in the 3D magnetic field of alpha magnet at the PBP-CMU Electron Linac Laboratory

The electron injector system for a future mid-infrared free-electron laser (MIR FEL) and coherent terahertz (THz) radiation source at the Plasma and Beam Physics (PBP) Research Facility of Chiang Mai University (CMU) in Thailand will consists mainly of a thermionic cathode radio-frequency (RF) electron gun, an alpha magnet, a traveling-wave linear accelerator (linac) structure and two magnetic bunch compressor systems. The detailed study of all components in the injector system is very important for generation of high quality electron beam and radiation. This paper focuses on the alpha magnet, which is used as a magnetic bunch compressor and an energy filter before the beam being accelerated in a post-acceleration linac structure. We report its characteristics and the electron beam dynamics in its three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field distribution that was simulated with the program CST EM Studio 2016. The simulated alpha magnet’s fields are comparable with the measurement data. The beam dynamic simulations in 3D magnetic field were performed by using programs ASTRA and ELEGANT. The simulation results allow us to investigate the influence of the fringe field, the vertical focusing and the space charge effect in the alpha magnet. This is significantly important for electron beam manipulation in the injector system. The study outputs reveal that the proper injection angle in the practical beam operation to compensate the fringe field effect should be 42∘ that is 1.29∘ larger than the ideal injection angle. We also found that the ratio of the vertical focal length to the total path length in the alpha magnet is 0.544, which is independent on the magnetic field gradient. Moreover, the space charge force in the electron bunch leads to the rotation of transverse phase spaces while the beam traverses in the alpha magnet’s field. This effect has considerably small influence on the longitudinal phase space, especially for the beam with a bunch charge not exceeding 0.2 nC.

Ultrafast Self-Induced X-Ray Transparency and Loss of Magnetic Diffraction.

Using ultrafast ≃2.5 fs and ≃25 fs self-amplified spontaneous emission pulses of increasing intensity and a novel experimental scheme, we report the concurrent increase of stimulated emission in the forward direction and loss of out-of-beam diffraction contrast for a Co/Pd multilayer sample. The experimental results are quantitatively accounted for by a statistical description of the pulses in conjunction with the optical Bloch equations. The dependence of the stimulated sample response on the incident intensity, coherence time, and energy jitter of the employed pulses reveals the importance of increased control of x-ray free electron laser radiation.

Signatures of autoionization in the angular electron distribution in two-photon double ionization of Ar

A kinematically complete experiment on two-photon double ionization of Ar by free-electron laser radiation with a photon energy of 27.93 eV was performed. The electron energy spectra show that double ionization is dominated by the sequential process. Comparison of the electron angular distributions to our data for single ionization and to theory confirms that even in the sequential process the electrons from both ionization steps are correlated with each other through polarization of the intermediate $\mathrm{A}{\mathrm{r}}^{+}$ state. Furthermore, a very important role of autoionization in both ionization steps is found.

Control of FEL radiation properties by tailoring the seed pulses

Seeded free-electron lasers (FELs) produce intense, ultrashort and fully coherent X-ray pulses. These seeded FEL pulses depend on the initial seed properties. Therefore, controlling the seed laser allows tailoring the FEL radiation for phase-sensitive experiments. In this contribution, we present detailed simulation studies to characterize the FEL process and to predict the operation performance of seeded pulses. In addition, we show experimental data on the temporal characterization of the seeded FEL pulses performed at the sFLASH experiment in Hamburg.

Restoration from polyglutamine toxicity after free electron laser irradiation of neuron-like cells

Proteins containing an expanded polyglutamine tract tend to aggregate, leading to the neuronal damage observed in polyglutamine diseases. We recently reported that free electron laser (FEL) irradiation markedly dissociates naked polyglutamine aggregates as well as the aggregate in the 293 T cells. In the present study, we investigated whether FEL irradiation of neuron-like cells with polyglutamine aggregates would restore the cellular damage and dysfunction. The aggregated polyglutamine peptides induced neurite retraction of differentiated SH-SY5Y cells. Upon FEL irradiation, the polyglutamine aggregates in the SH-SY5Y cells were dissociated, and the shorter length of individual neurite, fewer number of neurites per cell and shorter total length of neurite by polyglutamine were inhibited. Same results were essentially obtained in PC12 cells. Moreover, when FEL irradiation was applied to undifferentiated SH-SY5Y cells, the deficits in neuron-like differentiation seen in expanded polyglutamine peptide-containing cells were also rescued. Thus, FEL irradiation restored both the damage and differentiation caused by polyglutamine in neuron-like cells.

The beam-based alignment for soft X-ray free-electron lasers via genetic algorithm

The overlap between the electron beam and the radiation field is one of the most important characteristics during the free-electron laser (FEL) amplification processes, which will dramatically influence the quality of the FEL radiation. The beam-based alignment (BBA), first proposed in 1980s, has achieved great success in both theoretical and experimental studies on hard X-ray FELs. This paper gives a brief analysis on the undulator misalignment, which has been ignored in the original BBA algorithm. These misalignments, as revealed by the calculation and simulation, tend to have significant impacts on the soft X-ray FELs which are driven by the low energy accelerators. Furthermore, we demonstrate a method that can probably solve this dilemma using a searching algorithm — genetic algorithm.

Two-photon absorption of soft X-ray free electron laser radiation by graphite near the carbon K-absorption edge

We have examined the transmission of soft X-ray pulses from the FERMI free electron laser through carbon films of varying thickness, quantifying nonlinear effects of pulses above and below the carbon K-edge. At typical of soft X-ray free electron laser intensities, pulses exhibit linear absorption at photon energies above and below the K-edge, ∼308 and ∼260 eV, respectively; whereas two-photon absorption becomes significant slightly below the K-edge, ∼284.2 eV. The measured two-photon absorption cross section at 284.18 eV (∼6 × 10−48 cm4 s) is 7 orders of magnitude above what is expected from a simple theory based on hydrogen-like atoms – a result of resonance effects.

Multiple core-hole formation by free-electron laser radiation in molecular nitrogen

We investigate the formation of multiple-core-hole states of molecular nitrogen interacting with a free-electron laser pulse. In previous work, we obtained bound and continuum molecular orbitals in the single-center expansion scheme and used these orbitals to calculate photo-ionization and auger decay rates. We extend our formulation to track the proportion of the population that accesses single-site versus two-site double-core-hole (TSDCH) states, before the formation of the final atomic ions. We investigate the pulse parameters that favor the formation of the single-site and TSDCH as well as triple-core-hole states for 525 and 1100 eV photons.

MITHRA 1.0: A full-wave simulation tool for free electron lasers

Free Electron Lasers (FELs) are a solution for providing intense, coherent and bright radiation in the hard X-ray regime. Due to the low wall-plug efficiency of FEL facilities, it is crucial and additionally very useful to develop complete and accurate simulation tools for better optimizing a FEL interaction. The highly sophisticated dynamics involved in a FEL process was the main obstacle hindering the development of general simulation tools for this problem. We present a numerical algorithm based on finite difference time domain/Particle in cell (FDTD/PIC) in a Lorentz boosted coordinate system which is able to fulfill a full-wave simulation of a FEL process. The developed software offers a suitable tool for the analysis of FEL interactions without considering any of the usual approximations. A coordinate transformation to bunch rest frame makes the very different length scales of bunch size, optical wavelengths and the undulator period transform to values with the same order. Consequently, FDTD/PIC simulations in conjunction with efficient parallelization techniques make the full-wave simulation feasible using the available computational resources. Several examples of free electron lasers are analyzed using the developed software, the results are benchmarked based on standard FEL codes and discussed in detail. Program summaryProgram Title: MITHRAProgram Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/9f5k4zbtkg.1Licensing provisions: GNU General Public License 3Programming language: C++Nature of problem: Full-wave simulation of the free electron laser radiation is accomplished by the code. MITHRA transforms the particle positions and momenta to the bunch rest frame using the Lorentz transformation. Electrons entering the undulator start radiating due to the induced wiggling motion. The back-effect of the radiation on the bunch results in the modulation of the electron position, which in turn generates a coherent radiation. This process as the main principle behind the operation of free electron lasers is simulated using Maxwell equations, electron motion equations and relativity principles.Solution method: Non-standard Finite Difference Time Domain (NSFDTD) combined with Particle-in-Cell (PIC) is implemented in the Lorentz-boosted framework to calculate the FEL radiation. Parallelization is done using both multi-threading (open-MP) and message passing interface (MPI) to maximize the computation efficiency.

ANALYSIS OF A TWO-CRYSTAL DELAY LINE FOR FEMTOSECOND PULSES OF THE X-RAY FREE ELECTRON LASER

Using the methods of statistical optics the formation of delayed X-ray pulses in the diffraction reflection of an incident pulse with an arbitrary degree of temporal coherence from a system of parallel crystals with different lattice periods is considered. The results are of interest for constructing delay lines in experiments with a time resolution of the pump-and-probe type and realizing of the self-seeding mode to increase the degree of temporal coherence of the X-ray free-electron laser radiation.
 A rigorous theory of dynamic diffraction in Bragg geometry is applied to the diffraction reflection of short X-ray pulses from a system of two parallel crystals with arbitrary thicknesses, and also, for a system of two pairs of parallel crystals. The dependence of the delay time and the intensity of the delayed pulses on the thickness of the crystals and the distances between them are analyzed. Since the pulses from the X-ray free electron laser have high spatial coherence, i.e. a small angular divergence, but very poor temporal coherence, special attention is paid to the effect of the degree of temporal coherence on the width of the energy spectrum of the incident pulses and on the influence of this width on the intensity of the delayed pulses.

ANALYSIS OF A TWO-CRYSTAL DELAY LINE FOR FEMTOSECOND PULSES OF THE X-RAY FREE ELECTRON LASER

Using the methods of statistical optics the formation of delayed X-ray pulses in the diffraction reflection of an incident pulse with an arbitrary degree of temporal coherence from a system of parallel crystals with different lattice periods is considered. The results are of interest for constructing delay lines in experiments with a time resolution of the pump-and-probe type and realizing of the self-seeding mode to increase the degree of temporal coherence of the X-ray free-electron laser radiation.
 A rigorous theory of dynamic diffraction in Bragg geometry is applied to the diffraction reflection of short X-ray pulses from a system of two parallel crystals with arbitrary thicknesses, and also, for a system of two pairs of parallel crystals. The dependence of the delay time and the intensity of the delayed pulses on the thickness of the crystals and the distances between them are analyzed. Since the pulses from the X-ray free electron laser have high spatial coherence, i.e. a small angular divergence, but very poor temporal coherence, special attention is paid to the effect of the degree of temporal coherence on the width of the energy spectrum of the incident pulses and on the influence of this width on the intensity of the delayed pulses.

Plasma boosted electron beams for driving Free Electron Lasers

In this paper, we report results of simulations, in the framework of both EuPRAXIA (Walker, 2017) and EuPRAXIA@SPARC_LAB (Ferrario, 2018) projects, aimed at delivering a high brightness electron bunch for driving a Free Electron Laser (FEL) by employing a plasma post acceleration scheme. The boosting plasma wave is driven by a tens of TW class laser and doubles the energy of an externally injected beam up to 1 GeV. The injected bunch is simulated starting from a photoinjector, matched to plasma, boosted and finally matched to an undulator, where its ability to produce FEL radiation is verified to yield O(1011) photons per shot at 2.7 nm.

Compact coherence enhancement by subharmonic self-seeding in X-ray free-electron laser facilities.

X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) are cutting-edge scientific tools able to generate transversely coherent radiation with very high power and ultra-short pulse durations. The self-seeding mechanism has been proven to increase the longitudinal coherence of the FEL radiation but its efficiency could be significantly improved, especially for soft X-rays. This paper proposes the enhancement of the performance of self-seeding by combining it with the harmonic generation mechanism. In particular, by starting the process with a subharmonic of the wavelength of interest, the coherence of the produced radiation is improved, the undulator beamline becomes more compact, and the monochromator realization is simplified. Numerical simulations for SwissFEL are presented showing that the method can be employed, within a given space, to increase the spectral brightness by one order of magnitude or more with respect to standard self-seeding. This coherence enhancement will be fundamental for many photon science applications and techniques such as resonant inelastic X-ray scattering.

Sensitivity of PbSnTe:In films to the radiation of free electron laser

The analysis of experimental data on the observation of photoresponse in narrow gap semiconductor Pb1–xSnxTe:In films grown by the method of molecular beam epitaxy, exposing samples to the powerful radiation of the Novosibirsk free electron laser (wavelength range of about 70–240 μm) under different measurement conditions, is presented in the paper. Both the positive and negative photoconductivities were detected. In a magnetic field, the resonance-type photoconductivity was observed. The results are discussed within the framework of the model taking into account the existence of different capture levels in PbSnTe.

Experimental study of EUV mirror radiation damage resistance under long-term free-electron laser exposures below the single-shot damage threshold.

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface.

Non-invasive online wavelength measurements atFLASH2 and present benchmark.

At FLASH2, the free-electron laser radiation wavelength is routinely measured by an online spectrometer based on photoionization of gas targets. Photoelectrons are detected with time-of-flight spectrometers and the wavelength is determined by means of well known binding energies of the target species. The wavelength measurement is non-invasive and transparent with respect to running user experiments due to the low gas pressure applied. Sophisticated controls for setting the OPIS operation parameters have been created and integrated into the distributed object-oriented control system at FLASH2. Raw and processed data can be stored on request in the FLASH data acquisition system for later correlation with data from user experiments or re-analysis. In this paper, the commissioning of the instrument at FLASH2 and the challenges of space charge effects on wavelength determination are reported. Furthermore, strategies for fast data reduction and online data processing are presented.

Sideband instability analysis based on a one-dimensional high-gain free electron laser model

When an untapered high-gain free electron laser (FEL) reaches saturation, the exponential growth ceases and the radiation power starts to oscillate about an equilibrium. The FEL radiation power or efficiency can be increased by undulator tapering. For a high-gain tapered FEL, although the power is enhanced after the first saturation, it is known that there is a so-called second saturation where the FEL power growth stops even with a tapered undulator system. The sideband instability is one of the primary reasons leading to this second saturation. In this paper, we provide a quantitative analysis on how the gradient of undulator tapering can mitigate the sideband growth. The study is carried out semianalytically and compared with one-dimensional numerical simulations. The physical parameters are taken from Linac Coherent Light Source-like electron bunch and undulator systems. The sideband field gain and the evolution of the radiation spectra for different gradients of undulator tapering are examined. It is found that a strong undulator tapering ($\ensuremath{\sim}10%$) provides effective suppression of the sideband instability in the postsaturation regime.

Contrasting behavior of covalent and molecular carbon allotropes exposed to extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray free-electron laser radiation

All carbon materials, e.g., amorphous carbon (a-C) coatings and C60 fullerene thin films, play an important role in short-wavelength free-electron laser (FEL) research motivated by FEL optics development and prospective nanotechnology applications. Responses of a-C and C60 layers to the extreme ultraviolet (SPring-8 Compact SASE Source in Japan) and soft x-ray (free-electron laser in Hamburg) free-electron laser radiation are investigated by Raman spectroscopy, differential interference contrast, and atomic force microscopy. A remarkable difference in the behavior of covalent (a-C) and molecular (C60) carbonaceous solids is demonstrated under these irradiation conditions. Low thresholds for ablation of a fullerene crystal (estimated to be around 0.15 eV/atom for C60 vs 0.9 eV/atom for a-C in terms of the absorbed dose) are caused by a low cohesive energy of fullerene crystals. An efficient mechanism of the removal of intact C60 molecules from the irradiated crystal due to Coulomb repulsion of fullerene-cage cation radicals formed by the ionizing radiation is revealed by a detailed modeling.