X-ray Free-Electron Laser accelerator to study on Quantum Electro-Dynamics

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) utilize high-density and high-energy electron bunches which are well-suited to produce Compton back-scattering radiation. Here we study study interaction of such electron bunches during head-on collision with retroreflected X-ray pulses, emitted by an XFEL. Such collisions allow one to conduct experiments on electron-positron pair production, both through trident and gamma-gamma colliding processes. We discuss cost-effective setups to study such processes, taking advantage of the existing conventional as well as proposed X-ray FEL infrastructure. We estimate parameters of the proposed experiments and compare them with other projects under construction

Proposal to generate 10 TW level femtosecond x-ray pulses from a baseline undulator in conventional SASE regime at the European XFEL

Output characteristics of the European XFEL have been previously studied assuming an operation point at 5 kA peak current. In this paper we explore the possibility to go well beyond such nominal peak current level. In order to illustrate the potential of the European XFEL accelerator complex we consider a bunch with 0.25 nC charge, compressed up to a peak current of 45 kA. An advantage of operating at such high peak current is the increase of the x-ray output peak power without any modification to the baseline design. Based on start-to-end simulations, we demonstrate that such high peak current, combined with undulator tapering, allows one to achieve up to a 100-fold increase in a peak power in the conventional SASE regime, compared to the nominal mode of operation. In particular, we find that 10 TW-power level, femtosecond x-ray pulses can be generated in the photon energy range between 3 keV and 5 keV, which is optimal for single biomolecule imaging. Our simulations are based on the exploitation of all the 21 cells foreseen for the SASE3 undulator beamline, and indicate that one can achieve diffraction to the desired resolution with 15 mJ (corresponding to about 3e13 photons) in pulses of about 3 fs, in the case of a 100 nm focus at the photon energy of 3.5 keV

Effects of energy spread on Brightness and Coherence of undulator sources

The (spectral) brightness for partially transverse coherent sources as Synchrotron Radiation (SR) and Free-Electron Laser (FEL) sources can be defined as the maximum of the Wigner distribution. Then, the brightness includes information on both coherence and wavefront characteristics of the radiation field. For undulator sources, it is customary to approximate the single-electron electric field at resonance with a Gaussian beam, leading to great simplifications. Attempts to account for the modified spatial and angular profile of the undulator radiation in the presence of detuning due to energy spread currently build on the simplified brightness expression derived under the assumption of Gaussian beams. The influence of energy spread on undulator radiation properties is becoming important in view of diffraction-limited rings with ultralow emittance coming on-line. Here we discuss the effects of energy spread on the brightness of undulator radiation at resonance, as well as relevant relations with coherence properties.Comment: Preprint accepted for publication in the Journal of Synchrotron radiation, 30 pages, 8 figure

Extension of SASE bandwidth up to 2% as a way to increase the efficiency of protein structure determination by x-ray nanocrystallography at the European XFEL

Femtosecond x-ray nanocrystallography exploiting XFEL radiation is an emerging method for protein structure determination using crystals with sizes ranging from a few tens to a few hundreds nanometers. Crystals are randomly hit by XFEL pulses, producing diffraction patterns at unknown orientations. One can determine these orientations by studying the diffraction patterns themselves, i.e. by indexing the Bragg peaks. The number of indexed individual images and the SASE bandwidth are inherently linked, because increasing the number of Bragg peaks per individual image requires increasing the bandwidth of the spectrum. This calls for a few percent SASE bandwidth, resulting in an increase in the number of indexed images at the same number of hits. Based on start-to-end simulations for the baseline of the European XFEL, we demonstrate here that it is possible to achieve up to a tenfold increase in SASE bandwidth, compared with the nominal mode of operation. This provides a route for further increasing the efficiency of protein structure determination at the European XFEL. We illustrate this concept with simulations of lysozyme nanocrystals

Perspectives of Imaging of Single Protein Molecules with the Present Design of the European XFEL. - Part I - X-ray Source, Beamlime Optics and Instrument Simulations

The Single Particles, Clusters and Biomolecules (SPB) instrument at the European XFEL is located behind the SASE1 undulator, and aims to support imaging and structure determination of biological specimen between about 0.1 micrometer and 1 micrometer size. The instrument is designed to work at photon energies from 3 keV up to 16 keV. This wide operation range is a cause for challenges to the focusing optics. In particular, a long propagation distance of about 900 m between x-ray source and sample leads to a large lateral photon beam size at the optics. The beam divergence is the most important parameter for the optical system, and is largest for the lowest photon energies and for the shortest pulse duration (corresponding to the lowest charge). Due to the large divergence of nominal X-ray pulses with duration shorter than 10 fs, one suffers diffraction from mirror aperture, leading to a 100-fold decrease in fluence at photon energies around 4 keV, which are ideal for imaging of single biomolecules. The nominal SASE1 output power is about 50 GW. This is very far from the level required for single biomolecule imaging, even assuming perfect beamline and focusing efficiency. Here we demonstrate that the parameters of the accelerator complex and of the SASE1 undulator offer an opportunity to optimize the SPB beamline for single biomolecule imaging with minimal additional costs and time. Start to end simulations from the electron injector at the beginning of the accelerator complex up to the generation of diffraction data indicate that one can achieve diffraction without diffraction with about 0.5 photons per Shannon pixel at near-atomic resolution with 1e13 photons in a 4 fs pulse at 4 keV photon energy and in a 100 nm focus, corresponding to a fluence of 1e23 ph/cm^2. This result is exemplified using the RNA Pol II molecule as a case study

Superradiant Undulator Radiation for Selective THz Control Experiments at XFELs

The generation of frequency-tunable, narrow-bandwidth and carrier-envelope-phase stable THz pulses with fields in the MV/cm regime that can be appropriately timed to the femtosecond X-ray pulses from free-electron-lasers is of highest scientific interest. It will enable to follow the electronic and structural dynamics stimulated by (non)linear selective excitations of matter on few femtosecond time and {\AA}ngstrom length scales. In this article, a scheme based on superradiant undulator radiation generated just after the XFEL is proposed. The concept utilizes cutting edge superconducting undulator technology and provides THz pulses in a frequency range between 3 and 30 THz with exceptional THz pulse energies. Relevant aspects for realization and operation are discussed point by point on the example of the European XFEL

Novel opportunities for sub-meV inelastic X-ray scattering at high-repetition rate self-seeded X-ray free-electron lasers

Inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) is an important tool for studies of equilibrium dynamics in condensed matter. A new spectrometer recently proposed for ultra-high-resolution IXS (UHRIX) has achieved 0.6~meV and 0.25~nm$^{-1}$ spectral and momentum transfer resolutions, respectively. However, further improvements down to 0.1~meV and 0.02~nm$^{-1}$ are required to close the gap in energy-momentum space between high and low frequency probes. We show that this goal can be achieved by further optimizing the X-ray optics and by increasing the spectral flux of the incident X-ray pulses. UHRIX performs best at energies from 5 to 10 keV, where a combination of self-seeding and undulator tapering at the SASE-2 beamline of the European XFEL promises up to a hundred-fold increase in average spectral flux compared with nominal SASE pulses at saturation, or three orders of magnitude more than possible with storage-ring based radiation sources. Wave-optics propagation shows that about $7\times 10^{12}$~ph/s in a $90$-$\mu$eV bandwidth can be achieved on the sample. This will provide unique new possibilities for dynamics studies by IXS.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figure

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

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Review of Scientific Instruments 89, 063121 (2018) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5027071.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.BMBF, 05K13KT4, Verbundprojekt FSP 302 - Freie-Elektronen-Laser: Nanoskopische Systeme. Teilprojekt 1: Split-and-Delay Instrument für die European XFEL Beamline Materials Imaging and DynamicsBMBF, 05K16BC1, Split-and-Delay Instrument für die European XFEL Beamline Materials Imaging and Dynamic

Multiple-core-hole resonance spectroscopy with ultraintense X-ray pulses

Understanding the interaction of intense, femtosecond X-ray pulses with heavy atoms is crucial for gaining insights into the structure and dynamics of matter. One key aspect of nonlinear light-matter interaction was, so far, not studied systematically at free-electron lasers -- its dependence on the photon energy. Using resonant ion spectroscopy, we map out the transient electronic structures occurring during the complex charge-up pathways. Massively hollow atoms featuring up to six simultaneous core holes determine the spectra at specific photon energies and charge states. We also illustrate how the influence of different X-ray pulse parameters that are usually intertwined can be partially disentangled. The extraction of resonance spectra is facilitated by the fact that the ion yields become independent of the peak fluence beyond a saturation point. Our study lays the groundwork for novel spectroscopies of transient atomic species in exotic, multiple-core-hole states that have not been explored previously.Comment: Supplementary information is include