Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator

International audienceAbstract Free-electron lasers generate high-brilliance coherent radiation at wavelengths spanning from the infrared to the X-ray domains. The recent development of short-wavelength seeded free-electron lasers now allows for unprecedented levels of control on longitudinal coherence, opening new scientific avenues such as ultra-fast dynamics on complex systems and X-ray nonlinear optics. Although those devices rely on state-of-the-art large-scale accelerators, advancements on laser-plasma accelerators, which harness gigavolt-per-centimetre accelerating fields, showcase a promising technology as compact drivers for free-electron lasers. Using such footprint-reduced accelerators, exponential amplification of a shot-noise type of radiation in a self-amplified spontaneous emission configuration was recently achieved. However, employing this compact approach for the delivery of temporally coherent pulses in a controlled manner has remained a major challenge. Here we present the experimental demonstration of a laser-plasma accelerator-driven free-electron laser in a seeded configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength is accomplished. Furthermore, the appearance of interference fringes, resulting from the interaction between the phase-locked emitted radiation and the seed, confirms longitudinal coherence. Building on our scientific achievements, we anticipate a navigable pathway to extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, paving the way towards smaller-scale free-electron lasers, unique tools for a multitude of applications in industry, laboratories and universities

Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator

Free-electron lasers generate high-brilliance coherent radiation at wavelengths spanning from the infrared to the X-ray domains. The recent development of short-wavelength seeded free-electron lasers now allows for unprecedented levels of control on longitudinal coherence[1], opening new scientific avenues as ultra-fast dynamics on complex systems and X-ray nonlinear optics. While those devices rely on state-of-the-art large-scale accelerators, advancements on laser-plasma accelerators, which harness giga-volt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, showcase a promising technology as compact drivers for free-electron lasers. Using such miniaturized accelerators, exponential amplification of a shot-noise type of radiation in a self-amplified spontaneous emission configuration was recently achieved [2]. However, employing this compact approach for the delivery of temporally coherent pulses in a controlled manner remained a major challenge. Here, we present the experimental demonstration of a laser-plasma accelerator driven free-electron laser in a seeded configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength is accomplished. Furthermore, the appearance of interference fringes, resulting from the interaction between the phase-locked emitted radiation and the seed, confirms longitudinal coherence. Building on our scientific achievements, we anticipate a straightforward scaling to extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, paving the way towards university-scale free-electron lasers, unique tools for a multitude of applications. [1] Meyer, M. FELs of europe: Whitebook on science with free electron lasers 8–19 (2016). [2] Wang, W. et al. Free-electron lasing at 27 nanometres based on a laser wakefield accelerator

The COXINEL Seeded Free Electron Laser Driven by the Laser Plasma Accelerator at HZDR

International audienceLaser Plasma Accelerators know a tremendous development these recent years. Being able to reach up to ~100 GV/m, they open new perspectives for compact accelerators. Their performance can be qualified by a Free Electron Laser Application. We report here on the COXINEL seeded Free Electron Laser in the UV using the using high-quality electron beam generated by the 150 TW DRACO laser. The COXINEL line developed at Synchrotron SOLEIL (France) is first introduced. First electron beam transport and undulator radiation observation using electrons from the Laser Plasma Accelerator developed at Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée (France) are described. Then, we present the first COXINEL results driven by the DRACO laser high performance plasma accelerator after its move to Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Germany): proper electron beam transport, undulator seed and undulator radiation temporal, spectral and spatial overlaps, allowing the seeded Free Electron Laser to be observed in the UV. Good agreement is found between measurements and simulations