Transverse Beam Diagnostics for the XUV Seeding Experiment at FLASH

High-gain free-electron lasers (FEL) offer intense, transversely coherent, and ultra short radiation pulses in the extreme ultraviolet, the soft- and the hard-X-ray spectral range. Undulator radiation from spontaneous emission is amplified. Due to the stochastic emis- sion process, the radiation exhibits a low temporal coherence, and the structure of the amplified radiation in the temporal and in the spectral domain shows large shot-to-shot fluctuations. In order to improve the temporal coherence, an external radiation pulse is used to induce (or seed) the FEL process. With this, only a defined wavelength range within the FEL bandwidth is amplified provided that the irradiance of the external radia- tion exceeds the noise level of the FEL amplifier. In addition to the improved longitudinal coherence, a seeded FEL provides the possibility to perform pump-probe experiments with an expected temporal resolution of the order of the pulse durations. In order to experi- mentally proof this statement, a test experiment for direct HHG-seeding at wavelength below 40 nm was installed at the free-electron laser facility FLASH at DESY. Crucial for the seeded operation of an FEL is the six-dimensional laser-electron overlap of the seed laser pulses with the electron bunches. Hence, dedicated diagnostics to measure and mechanisms to control the overlap are essential. Within this thesis, a transport beamline for the seed laser beam and the transverse diagnostics for seed laser- and the electron- beam were developed and commissioned. Results of the performance of the seed injection beamline are presented, and first measurements of the seeded operation of the FEL are analyzed and evaluated

Mercury emissions of a coal fired power plant in Germany

Hg ∕ SO2, Hg ∕ CO, NOx ∕ SO2 (NOx being the sum of NO and NO2) emission ratios (ERs) in the plume of the coal-fired power plant (CFPP), Lippendorf, near Leipzig, Germany, were determined within the European Tropospheric Mercury Experiment (ETMEP) aircraft campaign in August 2013. The gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) fraction of mercury emissions was also assessed. Measured Hg ∕ SO2 and Hg ∕ CO ERs were within the measurement uncertainties consistent with the ratios calculated from annual emissions in 2013 reported by the CFPP operator, while the NOx ∕ SO2 ER was somewhat lower. The GOM fraction of total mercury emissions, estimated using three independent methods, was below ∼ 25 %. This result is consistent with other findings and suggests that GOM fractions of ∼ 40 % of CFPP mercury emissions in current emission inventories are overestimated

Modal analysis of a seeded free-electron laser

It has been shown that the direct seeding can enhance the performance of a free-electron laser (FEL) in terms of its spectral, temporal, and coherence properties and reduces fluctuations in FEL output energy and arrival-time jitter. The properties of the used seed photon pulse are of high importance. In this paper, we describe the influence of the M2 onto the achievable power contrast between the direct seeded and the unseeded FEL radiation. The results of these studies are compared with the data from the high harmonic generation direct seeding experiment “sFLASH” in Hamburg, Germany. A method to measure M2 from a single transverse intensity distribution of the high harmonics beam at waist is discussed

Tropospheric mercury vertical profiles between 500 and 10000 m in central Europe

Tropospheric mercury vertical profiles between 500 and 10 000 m in central Europ

Confining continuous manipulations of accelerator beam-line optics

Altering the optics in one section of a linear accelerator beamline will in general cause an alteration of the optics in all downstream sections. In circular accelerators, changing the optical properties of any beamline element will have an impact on the optical functions throughout the whole machine. In many cases, however, it is desirable to change the optics in a certain beamline section without disturbing any other parts of the machine. Such a local optics manipulation can be achieved by adjusting a number of additional corrector magnets that restore the initial optics after the manipulated section. In that case, the effect of the manipulation is confined in the region between the manipulated and the correcting beamline elements. Introducing a manipulation continuously, while the machine is operating, therefore requires continuous correction functions to be applied to the correcting quadrupole magnets. In this paper we present an analytic approach to calculate such continuous correction functions for six quadrupole magnets by means of a homotopy method. Besides a detailed derivation of the method, we present its application to an algebraic example, as well as its implementation at the seeding experiment sFLASH at the free-electron laser FLASH located at DESY in Hamburg

Confining continuous manipulations of accelerator beam-line optics

Altering the optics in one section of a linear accelerator beamline will in general cause an alteration of the optics in all downstream sections. In circular accelerators, changing the optical properties of any beamline element will have an impact on the optical functions throughout the whole machine. In many cases, however, it is desirable to change the optics in a certain beamline section without disturbing any other parts of the machine. Such a local optics manipulation can be achieved by adjusting a number of additional corrector magnets that restore the initial optics after the manipulated section. In that case, the effect of the manipulation is confined in the region between the manipulated and the correcting beamline elements. Introducing a manipulation continuously, while the machine is operating, therefore requires continuous correction functions to be applied to the correcting quadrupole magnets. In this paper we present an analytic approach to calculate such continuous correction functions for six quadrupole magnets by means of a homotopy method. Besides a detailed derivation of the method, we present its application to an algebraic example, as well as its implementation at the seeding experiment sFLASH at the free-electron laser FLASH located at DESY in Hamburg.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to be submitted to PRA