Self-amplified Spontaneous Emission Research Articles

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.

An Option to Generate Seeded FEL Radiation for FLASH1

The FLASH free-electron laser (FEL) at DESY is currently operated in self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mode in both beamlines FLASH1 and FLASH2. Seeding offers unique properties for the FEL pulse, such as full coherence, spectral and temporal stability. In this contribution, possible ways to carry the seeded FEL radiation to the user hall are presented with analytical considerations and simulations. For this, components of the sFLASH seeding experiment are used.

Temporal X-ray reconstruction using temporal and spectral measurements

Transverse deflecting structures (TDS) are widely used in accelerator physics to measure the longitudinal density of particle bunches. When used in combination with a dispersive section, the whole longitudinal phase space density can be imaged. At the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the installation of such a device downstream of the undulators enables the reconstruction of the X-ray temporal intensity profile by comparing longitudinal phase space distributions with lasing on and lasing off [1]. However, the resolution of this TDS is limited to around 1 fs rms (root mean square), and therefore, in most cases, it is not possible to resolve single self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) spikes within one photon pulse.By combining the intensity spectrum from a high resolution photon spectrometer [2] and the temporal structure from the TDS, the overall resolution is enhanced, thus allowing the observation of temporal, single SASE spikes. The combined data from the spectrometer and the TDS is analyzed using an iterative algorithm to obtain the actual intensity profile.In this paper, we present the reconstruction algorithm as well as analyzed data obtained from simulations which shows the reliability of this method. Real data will be published at a later stage.

Undulator operation for PAL-XFEL large bandwidth modes

Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL) is operational for photon users since 2017. The hard X-ray beamline provides FEL with wavelengths from 0.1 and 0.7 nm, and the soft X-ray line provides 1 to 3 nm. The nominal operation of PAL-XFEL is based on the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process, where the energy spread of an electron beam is 10−3 to 10−4 to reach saturation. The bandwidth of XFEL radiation is naturally a similar order as of the energy spread of the electron beam. For certain types of XFEL user experiments, a large bandwidth of a few percent is required for the soft X-ray beamline. A large XFEL bandwidth may be obtained by increasing the energy spread of an electron beam. In such a case, the SASE process becomes however inefficient. Methods to achieve a large bandwidth X-ray free electron laser were proposed recently. In those methods, an electron beam is deflected transversely and sent to undulators with a vertical offset. The undulators have transverse field gradients. In this paper, we study the undulator operation parameters to achieve a large bandwidth by using the hardware setup of the PAL-XFEL soft X-ray beamline.

Collective effects in the radiative decay of the 2P1 state in helium

We present a theoretical study of He $2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}P--2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S$ emission from a helium gas, where the upper atomic state is prepared by a 100 fs laser pulse resonant with the $1\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}S--2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}P$ transition. The fluorescence signal emitted in the forward direction at 2059 nm and the transmitted signal at $58.4\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$ are followed in time starting with the low pump intensity regime where the single-atom spontaneous emission results in a characteristic exponential decay. By increasing the gas density and pump intensity, collective effects such as self-amplified spontaneous emission and superfluorescence modify the temporal dependence of the radiation field by amplifying the radiation pattern as well as changing its delay and intensity distribution. The extended Maxwell-Bloch simulation of the corresponding three-level $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ system in one spatial dimension covers emission delays of up to 2.4 ns, reaching beyond the natural lifetime of the $2\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}^{1}P$ state.

Generation of Coherent Radiation in the Near X-Ray Band by a Cascade FEL with a Two-Frequency Undulator

Generation of X-ray radiation in a cascade self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser (SASE FEL) using the harmonics of a two-frequency undulator is studied. The advanced phenomenological model of a one-pass FEL that accounts for the main losses in real FELs is presented: the electron energy spread in the beam, the beam divergence, diffraction, and the fact that emission losses are greater at higher harmonics than in the main frequency range. The FEL mathematical model was performed using the Mathematica software and calibrated within the experiment carried out at the operating SPARC facility via complex three-dimensional numerical simulations. The phenomenological model is used to analyze FEL dynamics for generation of a high-energy X-ray emission at a relatively short length. It is proposed to use a two-frequency undulator for the initial electron grouping and subsequent frequency multiplication in a cascade FEL with higher harmonic amplification (HGHG). The advantages of the two-frequency undulator are presented for electron grouping at higher harmonics of the undulator radiation (UR). The operation of several types of FEL is simulated with amplification of the seed laser wave frequency in two and three cascades to generate the soft X-ray radiation. A seed laser with a wavelength of 11.43 nm corresponding to the peak reflectivity of mirror coatings with MoRu/Be is proposed for generating the intensive X-ray laser radiation with λ ~ 1.27–3.37 nm. Here, the intensive radiation power reaches 50 MW at a length of only 35 meters; the radiation shows good temporal coherence corresponding to the performance of a low-power seed laser with a lower frequency.

Studies of a terawatt x-ray free-electron laser

The resolution in x-ray coherent diffractive imaging applications can be improved by increasing the number of photons in the optical pulse. An x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) producing pulses with terawatt (TW) peak power and about 10 femtosecond duration can satisfy this requirement. In this paper, we consider the conditions necessary for achieving powers in excess of 1 TW in a 1.5 Å FEL. Using the MINERVA simulation code, an extensive steady-state analysis has been conducted using a variety of undulator and focusing configurations. In particular, strong focusing using FODO lattices is compared with the natural, weak focusing inherent in helical undulators. It is found that the most important requirement to reach TW powers is extreme transverse compression of the electron beam in a strong FODO lattice in conjunction with a tapered undulator. We find that when the current density reaches extremely high levels, that the characteristic growth length in the tapered undulator becomes shorter than the Rayleigh range giving rise to optical guiding. We also show that planar undulators can reach near-TW power levels. In addition, preliminary time-dependent simulations are also discussed and show that TW power levels can be achieved both for self-seeding and pure self-amplified spontaneous emission. This result shows that high-resolution, single molecule diffractive imaging may be realized using XFELs.

Dispersion-Based Fresh-Slice Scheme for Free-Electron Lasers.

The fresh-slice technique improved the performance of several self-amplified spontaneous emission free-electron laser schemes by granting selective control on the temporal lasing slice without spoiling the other electron bunch slices. So far, the implementation has required a special insertion device to create the beam yaw, called a dechirper. We demonstrate a novel scheme to enable fresh-slice operation based on electron energy chirp and orbit dispersion that can be implemented at any free-electron laser facility without additional hardware.

High-Power Femtosecond Soft X Rays from Fresh-Slice Multistage Free-Electron Lasers.

We demonstrate a novel multistage amplification scheme for self-amplified spontaneous-emission free electron lasers for the production of few femtosecond pulses with very high power in the soft x-ray regime. The scheme uses the fresh-slice technique to produce an x-ray pulse on the bunch tail, subsequently amplified in downstream undulator sections by fresh electrons. With three-stages amplification, x-ray pulses with an energy of hundreds of microjoules are produced in few femtoseconds. For single-spike spectra x-ray pulses the pulse power is increased more than an order of magnitude compared to other techniques in the same wavelength range.

An Option to Generate Seeded FEL Radiation for FLASH1

The FLASH free-electron laser (FEL) at DESY is currently operated in self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) mode in both beamlines FLASH1 and FLASH2. Seeding offers unique properties for the FEL pulse, such as full coherence, spectral and temporal stability. In this contribution, possible ways to carry the seeded FEL radiation to the user hall are presented with analytical considerations and simulations. For this, components of the sFLASH seeding experiment are used.

Development of a hard X-ray split-and-delay line and performance simulations for two-color pump-probe experiments at the European XFEL.

A hard X-ray Split-and-Delay Line (SDL) under construction for the Materials Imaging and Dynamics station at the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) is presented. This device aims at providing pairs of X-ray pulses with a variable time delay ranging from -10 ps to 800 ps in a photon energy range from 5 to 10 keV for photon correlation and X-ray pump-probe experiments. A custom designed mechanical motion system including active feedback control ensures that the high demands for stability and accuracy can be met and the design goals achieved. Using special radiation configurations of the European XFEL's SASE-2 undulator (SASE: Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission), two-color hard x-ray pump-probe schemes with varying photon energy separations have been proposed. Simulations indicate that more than 109 photons on the sample per pulse-pair and up to about 10% photon energy separation can be achieved in the hard X-ray region using the SDL.

Soft X-ray harmonic lasing self-seeded free electron laser at Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray free electron laser

The demonstration of a harmonic lasing self-seeded free-electron laser (HLSS FEL) scheme in the soft X-ray range at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free Electron Laser is presented. We report the experimental results of HLSS FEL radiation with the shortest wavelength of 1 nm by using the optimized phase shift of 2/3π. The key feature of the HLSS scheme is that the mode number is decreased (the longitudinal coherence length is enhanced) which is directly observed using a single-shot spectrometer. The spectral brightness is enhanced by a factor of 1.7 compared to the self-amplified spontaneous emission FEL because of the narrowed bandwidth. Our results show a good agreement with the theoretical expectation and simulations. The HLSS mode is a promising standard operation mode to generate a stable and high-brightness X-ray FEL that will provide more benefits to users for various applications.

Attosecond time–energy structure of X-ray free-electron laser pulses

The time–energy information of ultrashort X-ray free-electron laser pulses generated by the Linac Coherent Light Source is measured with attosecond resolution via angular streaking of neon 1s photoelectrons. The X-ray pulses promote electrons from the neon core level into an ionization continuum, where they are dressed with the electric field of a circularly polarized infrared laser. This induces characteristic modulations of the resulting photoelectron energy and angular distribution. From these modulations we recover the single-shot attosecond intensity structure and chirp of arbitrary X-ray pulses based on self-amplified spontaneous emission, which have eluded direct measurement so far. We characterize individual attosecond pulses, including their instantaneous frequency, and identify double pulses with well-defined delays and spectral properties, thus paving the way for X-ray pump/X-ray probe attosecond free-electron laser science.

Pulse-resolved intensity measurements at a hard X-ray FEL using semi-transparent diamond detectors.

Solid-state ionization chambers are presented based on thin diamond crystals that allow pulse-resolved intensity measurements at a hard X-ray free-electron laser (FEL), up to the 4.5 MHz repetition rate that will become available at the European XFEL. Due to the small X-ray absorption of diamond the thin detectors are semi-transparent which eases their use as non-invasive monitoring devices in the beam. FELs are characterized by strong pulse-to-pulse intensity fluctuations due to the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) process and in many experiments it is mandatory to monitor the intensity of each individual pulse. Two diamond detectors with different electrode materials, beryllium and graphite, were tested as intensity monitors at the XCS endstation of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) using the pink SASE beam at 9 keV. The performance is compared with LCLS standard monitors that detect X-rays backscattered from thin SiN foils placed in the beam. The graphite detector can also be used as a beam position monitor although with rather coarse resolution.

Focusing X-ray free-electron laser pulses using Kirkpatrick-Baez mirrors at the NCI hutch of thePAL-XFEL.

The Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free-Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL) is a recently commissioned X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facility that provides intense ultrashort X-ray pulses based on the self-amplified spontaneous emission process. The nano-crystallography and coherent imaging (NCI) hutch with forward-scattering geometry is located at the hard X-ray beamline of the PAL-XFEL and provides opportunities to perform serial femtosecond crystallography and coherent X-ray diffraction imaging. To produce intense high-density XFEL pulses at the interaction positions between the X-rays and various samples, a microfocusing Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirror system that includes an ultra-precision manipulator has been developed. In this paper, the design of a KB mirror system that focuses the hard XFEL beam onto a fixed sample point of the NCI hutch, which is positioned along the hard XFEL beamline, is described. The focusing system produces a two-dimensional focusing beam at approximately 2 µm scale across the 2-11 keV photon energy range. XFEL pulses of 9.7 keV energy were successfully focused onto an area of size 1.94 µm × 2.08 µm FWHM.

High-harmonic x-ray undulator radiation for nanoscale-wavelength free-electron lasers

We explore the undulator radiation (UR) from relativistic electrons in two-frequency undulators intended for use in x-ray free-electron lasers (FELs). We use an exact analytical account for the major sources of spectral line broadening of the spontaneous UR to describe the UR spectrum, intensity and emission line shape. We also show possible partial compensation of the off-axis divergence by ad hoc imposed weak transverse constant magnetic components. The harmonic radiation of the two-frequency undulator is studied. High-harmonics amplification in the two-frequency undulator is underlined for possible use in x-ray FELs and the generation of powerful x-ray radiation is demonstrated. The evolution of high harmonic power is studied with the help of the developed phenomenological self-amplified spontaneous emission FEL model. The performance of a high-gain harmonic generation FEL with a two-frequency undulator–prebuncher is explored. Harmonic multiplication cascades are introduced in FELs to obtain nanometer x-ray FEL radiation in reduced size FELs at ~30 m with seed from commercially available excimer laser and ~0.5 GeV electrons.

SXFEL: A Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser in China

The Shanghai Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser facility (SXFEL) is a single-pass FEL facility designed to cover the photon spectrum from 10 nm to 2nm based on self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE...

Unified Analysis for Calculating the Incoherent Spontaneous Emission of Cooperative Radiations**Supported by the ASRT-INFN Joint Project between the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Egypt and INFN in Italy.

A unified analysis is presented to calculate the incoherent spontaneous power of cooperative radiations based on self-amplified spontaneous emission. Using quantum mechanical tools, we derive analytical expressions for the incoherent spontaneous power of undulator and Cherenkov free-electron lasers (FELs). The undulator and Cherenkov FELs are considered as two different examples for the radiation that accumulate cooperatively. In the case of the undulator FEL, we show an excellent agreement between an expression for the incoherent radiation power derived in the present work and that obtained using a completely different approach [Phys. Rev. E 65 (2002) 026501]. For the Cherenkov radiation, we demonstrate a satisfactory agreement between the incoherent power predicted in our analysis and previous experimental results.

Free-electron laser emission architecture impact on extreme ultraviolet lithography

Laser-produced plasma (LPP) EUV sources have demonstrated ∼125 W at customer sites, establishing confidence in EUV lithography (EUVL) as a viable manufacturing technology. However, for extension to the 3-nm technology node and beyond, existing scanner/source technology must enable higher-NA imaging systems (requiring increased resist dose and providing half-field exposures) and/or EUV multipatterning (requiring increased wafer throughput proportional to the number of exposure passes). Both development paths will require a substantial increase in EUV source power to maintain the economic viability of the technology, creating an opportunity for free-electron laser (FEL) EUV sources. FEL-based EUV sources offer an economic, high-power/single-source alternative to LPP EUV sources. Should FELs become the preferred next-generation EUV source, the choice of FEL emission architecture will greatly affect its operational stability and overall capability. A near-term industrialized FEL is expected to utilize one of the following three existing emission architectures: (1) self-amplified spontaneous emission, (2) regenerative amplifier, or (3) self-seeding. Model accelerator parameters are put forward to evaluate the impact of emission architecture on FEL output. Then, variations in the parameter space are applied to assess the potential impact to lithography operations, thereby establishing component sensitivity. The operating range of various accelerator components is discussed based on current accelerator performance demonstrated at various scientific user facilities. Finally, comparison of the performance between the model accelerator parameters and the variation in parameter space provides a means to evaluate the potential emission architectures. A scorecard is presented to facilitate this evaluation and provides a framework for future FEL design and enablement for EUVL applications.

Low-emittance thermionic-gun-based injector for a compact free-electron laser

A low-emittance thermionic-gun-based injector was developed for the x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) facility known as the SPring-8 angstrom compact free-electron laser (SACLA). The thermionic-gun-based system has the advantages of maintainability, reliability, and stability over a photocathode radio-frequency (rf) gun because of its robust thermionic cathode. The basic performance of the injector prototype was confirmed at the SPring-8 compact self-amplified spontaneous emission source (SCSS) test accelerator, where stable FEL generation in an extreme ultraviolet wavelength range was demonstrated. The essential XFEL innovation is the achievement of a constant beam peak current of 3--4 kA, which is 10 times higher than that generated by the SCSS test accelerator, while maintaining a normalized-slice emittance below 1 mm mrad. Thus, the following five modifications were applied to the SACLA injector: (i) a nonlinear energy chirp correction; (ii) the optimization of the rf acceleration frequency; (iii) rf system stabilization; (iv) nondestructive beam monitoring; and (v) a geomagnetic field correction. The SACLA injector successfully achieved the target beam performance, which shows that a thermionic-gun-based injector is applicable to an XFEL accelerator system. This paper gives an overview of the SACLA injector and describes the physical and technical details, together with the electron beam performance obtained in the beam commissioning.