Operating synchrotron light sources with a high gain free electron laser

Since the 1980s synchrotron light sources have been considered as drivers of a high repetition rate (RR), high gain free electron laser (FEL) inserted in a by-pass line or in the ring itself. As of today, the high peak current required by the laser is not deemed to be compatible with the standard multi-bunch filling pattern of synchrotrons, and in particular with the operation of insertion device (ID) beamlines. We show that this problem can be overcome by virtue of magnetic bunch length compression in a ring section, and that, after lasing, the beam returns to equilibrium conditions without beam quality disruption. Bunch length compression brings a double advantage: the high peak current stimulates a high gain FEL emission, while the large energy spread makes the beam less sensitive to the FEL heating and to the microwave instability in the ring. The beam's large energy spread at the undulator is matched to the FEL energy bandwidth through a transverse gradient undulator. Feasibility of lasing at 25 nm is shown for the Elettra synchrotron light source at 1 GeV, and scaling to shorter wavelengths as a function of momentum compaction, beam energy and transverse emittance in higher energy, larger rings is discussed. For the Elettra case study, a low (100 Hz) and a high (463 kHz) FEL RR are considered, corresponding to an average FEL output power at the level of ~1 W (~1013 photons per pulse) and ~300 W (~1011 photons per pulse), respectively. We also find that, as a by-product of compression, the ~5 W Renieri's limit on the average FEL power can be overcome. Our conclusion is that existing and planned synchrotron light sources may be made compatible with this new hybrid IDs-plus-FEL operational mode, with little impact on the standard beamlines functionality

Bridging the gap of storage ring light sources and linac-driven free-electron lasers

High-gain free-electron lasers (FELs) are driven by short, high-charge density electron beams as only produced at dedicated single pass or recirculating linear accelerators. We describe new conceptual, technical, and modeling solutions to produce subpicosecond, up to 100 \u3bcJ energy extreme ultra-violet and soft x-ray FEL pulses at high- and tunable repetition rates, from diffraction-limited storage ring light source. In contrast to previously proposed schemes, we show that lasing can be simultaneous to the standard multibunch radiation emission from short insertion devices, and that it can be obtained with limited impact on the storage ring infrastructure. By virtue of the high-average power but moderate pulse energy, the storage ring-driven high-gain FEL would open the door to unprecedented accuracy in time-resolved spectroscopic analysis of matter in the linear response regime, in addition to inelastic scattering experiments

Rupture Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Due To Endograft Infection After Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR): A Case Report

Endograft infection is a rare event, with few reports in the literature. This report describes delayed infection of an aortic endoprosthesis that eventually resulted in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture. The procedure was performed in an angiographic suite. In the postoperative period the patient developed a central venous line infection. This appears to be the first recognized and reported case in which the infected aortic neck completely dilated due to the radial force of the stent graft

The Trigger System of the ARGO-YBJ detector

The ARGO-YBJ experiment has been designed to detect air shower events over a large size scale and with an energy threshold of a few hundreds GeV. The building blocks of the ARGO-YBJ detector are single-gap Resistive Plate Counters (RPCs). The trigger logic selects the events on the basis of their hit multiplicity. Inclusive triggers as well as dedicated triggers for specific physics channels or calibration purposes have been developed. This paper describes the architecture and the main features of the trigger system.Comment: 4 pages, to be published in the Proceedings of the 28th International Cosmic Ray Conference (Tsukuba, Japan 2003

Two-colour generation in a chirped seeded Free-Electron Laser

We present the experimental demonstration of a method for generating two spectrally and temporally separated pulses by an externally seeded, single-pass free-electron laser operating in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral range. Our results, collected on the FERMI@Elettra facility and confirmed by numerical simulations, demonstrate the possibility of controlling both the spectral and temporal features of the generated pulses. A free-electron laser operated in this mode becomes a suitable light source for jitter-free, two-colour pump-probe experiments

Experimental evidence of intrabeam scattering in a free-electron laser driver

Abstract The effect of multiple small-angle Coulomb scattering, or intrabeam scattering (IBS) is routinely observed in electron storage rings over the typical damping time scale of milliseconds. So far, IBS has not been observed in single pass electron accelerators because charge density orders of magnitude higher than in storage rings would be needed. We show that such density is now available at high brightness electron linacs for free-electron lasers (FELs). We report measurements of the beam energy spread in the FERMI linac in the presence of the microbunching instability, which are consistent with a revisited IBS model for single pass systems. We also show that neglecting the hereby demonstrated effect of IBS in the parameter range typical of seeded VUV and soft x-ray FELs, results in too conservative a facility design, or failure to realise the accessible potential performance. As an example, an optimization of the FERMI parameters driven by an experimentally benchmarked model, opens the door to the extension of stable single spectral line emission to the water window (2.3–4.4 nm), with far-reaching implications for experiments in a variety of disciplines, ranging from physics and chemistry to biology and material sciences, and including nonlinear x-ray optics based on the four-wave-mixing approach.</jats:p

Implementation of Radio-Frequency Deflecting Devices for Comprehensive High-Energy Electron Beam Diagnosis

In next-generation light sources, high-brightness electron beams are used in a free-electron laser configuration to produce light for use by scientists and engineers in numerous fields of research. High-brightness beams are described for such light sources as having low transverse and longitudinal emittances, high peak currents, and low slice emittance and energy spread. The optimal generation and preservation of such high-brightness electron beams during the acceleration process and propagation to and through the photon-producing element is imperative to the quality and performance of the light source. To understand the electron beam's phase space in the accelerating section of a next-generation light source machine, we employed radio-frequency cavities operating in a deflecting mode in conjunction with a magnetic spectrometer and imaging system for both low (250 MeV) and high (1.2 GeV) electron energies. This high-resolution, high-energy system is an essential diagnostic for the optimization and control of the electron beam in the FERMI light source generating fully transversely and longitudinally coherent light in the VUV to soft x-ray wavelength regimes. This device is located at the end of the linear accelerator in order to provide the longitudinal phase space nearest to the entrance of the photon-producing beam-lines. Here, we describe the design, fabrication, characterization, commissioning, and operational implementation of this transverse deflecting cavity structure diagnostic system for the high-energy (1.2 GeV) regime

Design and Commissioning Plan for a Laser Heater for FERMI@elettra

The purpose of a laser heater is to increase the electron beam uncorrelated energy spread as a way to control and ideally suppress the microbunching instability in the linac drive for x-rays FELs. We review the motivations for equipping FERMI with a laser heater and provide a specification for the basics parameters as well as a description of a practical layout including desired diagnostics provisions for both the electron and laser beams. We also outline some useful operational guidelines for commissioning