Proposal to generate an isolated monocycle x-ray pulse by counteracting the slippage effect in free-electron lasers

Self-Referenced Spectral Interferometry for Single-Shot Characterization of Ultrashort Free-Electron Laser Pulses

An attosecond x-ray pulse with known spectrotemporal information is an essential tool for the investigation of ultrafast electron dynamics in quantum systems. Ultrafast free-electron lasers (FELs) have the unique advantage on unprecedented high intensity at x-ray wavelengths. However, no suitable method has been established so far for the spectrotemporal characterization of these ultrashort x-ray pulses. In this Letter, a simple method has been proposed based on self-referenced spectral interferometry for reconstructing the temporal profile and phase of ultrashort FEL pulses. We have demonstrated that the proposed method is reliable to completely characterize the attosecond x-ray FEL pulses with an error at the level of a few percent. Moreover, the first proof-of-principle experiment has been performed to achieve the single-shot spectrotemporal characterization of ultrashort pulses from a high-gain FEL. The precision of the proposed method will be enhanced with the decrease of the pulse duration, paving a new way for complete attosecond pulse characterization at x-ray FELs.

Experimental Demonstration to Control the Pulse Length of Coherent Undulator Radiation by Chirped Microbunching

In seeded free electron lasers (FELs), the temporal profile of FEL pulses usually reflects that of the seed pulse, and, thus, shorter FEL pulses are available with shorter seed pulses. In an extreme condition, however, this correlation is violated; the FEL pulse is stretched by the so-called slippage effect in undulators, when the seed pulse is ultimately short, e.g., few-cycles long. In a previous Letter, we have proposed a scheme to suppress the slippage effect and reduce the pulse length of FELs ultimately down to a single-cycle duration, which is based on "chirped microbunching," or an electron density modulation with a varying modulation period. Toward realization of FELs based on the proposed scheme, experiments have been carried out to demonstrate its fundamental mechanism in the NewSUBARU synchrotron radiation facility, using an ultrashort seed pulse with the pulse length shorter than five cycles. Experimental results of spectral and cross-correlation measurements have been found to be in reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions, which strongly suggests the successful demonstration of the proposed scheme.

Versatile modulators for laser-based FEL seeding at SwissFEL

The Paul Scherrer Institute is implementing laser-based seeding in the soft X-ray beamline (Athos) of its free-electron laser, SwissFEL, to enhance the temporal and spectral properties of the delivered photon pulses. This technique requires, among other components, two identical modulators for coupling the electron beam with an external laser with a wavelength range between 260 and 1600 nm. The design, magnetic measurements results, alignment, operation and also details of the novel and exotic magnetic configuration of the prototype are described.

Isolated attosecond X-ray pulses from superradiant thomson scattering by a relativistic chirped electron mirror

Time-resolved investigation of electron dynamics relies on the generation of isolated attosecond pulses in the (soft) X-ray regime. Thomson scattering is a source of high energy radiation of increasing prevalence in modern labs, complementing large scale facilities like undulators and X-ray free electron lasers. We propose a scheme to generate isolated attosecond X-ray pulses based on Thomson scattering by colliding microbunched electrons on a chirped laser pulse. The electrons collectively act as a relativistic chirped mirror, which superradiantly reflects the laser pulse into a single localized beat. As such, this technique extends chirped pulse compression, developed for radar and applied in optics, to the X-ray regime. In this paper we theoretically show that, by using this approach, attosecond soft X-ray pulses with GW peak power can be generated from pC electron bunches at tens of MeV electron beam energy. While we propose the generation of few cycle X-ray pulses on a table-top system, the theory is universally scalable over the electromagnetic spectrum.

Proposal to generate a pair of intense independently tunable attosecond pulses from undulator radiation

We propose and numerically evaluate two schemes to generate a pair of extreme-ultraviolet monocycle pulses with gigawatt-level peak power, whose time delay and central wavelengths can be precisely controlled. The methods are based on coherent emission of radiation by an ultrarelativistic electron beam with a current profile given by a chirped sinusoid, which is generated through the interaction with a conventional broadband laser. The possibility to produce phase-locked attosecond pulses with independently tunable properties in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral region has the potential to significantly advance studies of charge dynamics in molecules of biological interests.

Development of an undulator with a variable magnetic field profile

An undulator generating a magnetic field whose longitudinal profile is arbitrarily varied has been developed, which is one of the key components in a number of proposed new concepts in free-electron lasers. The undulator is composed of magnet modules, each of which corresponds to a single undulator period, and is driven by a linear actuator to change the magnetic gap independently. To relax the requirement on the actuator, the mechanical load on each module due to magnetic force acting from opponent and adjacent modules is reduced by means of two kinds of spring systems. The performance of the constructed undulator has been successfully demonstrated by magnetic measurement and characterization of synchrotron radiation.

Coherent electron displacement for quantum information processing using attosecond single cycle pulses

Coherent electron displacement is a conventional strategy for processing quantum information, as it enables to interconnect distinct sites in a network of atoms. The efficiency of the processing relies on the precise control of the mechanism, which has yet to be established. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a new route to drive the electron displacement on a timescale faster than that of the dynamical distortion of the electron wavepacket by utilizing attosecond single-cycle pulses. The characteristic feature of these pulses relies on a vast momentum transfer to an electron, leading to its displacement following a unidirectional path. The scenario is illustrated by revealing the spatiotemporal nature of the displaced wavepacket encoding a quantum superposition state. We map out the associated phase information and retrieve it over long distances from the origin. Moreover, we show that a sequence of such pulses applied to a chain of ions enables attosecond control of the directionality of the coherent motion of the electron wavepacket back and forth between the neighbouring sites. An extension to a two-electron spin state demonstrates the versatility of the use of these pulses. Our findings establish a promising route for advanced control of quantum states using attosecond single-cycle pulses, which pave the way towards ultrafast processing of quantum information as well as imaging.

Isolated single-cycle extreme-ultraviolet pulses from undulator radiation

We propose a method to generate an isolated single-cycle pulse in the extreme-ultraviolet spectral region using a broadband conventional laser. The uncompressed laser pulse imprints a chirped sinusoid current profile onto a relativistic electron beam. As the beam propagates along a specifically tailored magnetic field of an undulator, it produces an isolated single-cycle pulse. For moderate laser intensities (0.2 mJ per pulse) and typical operating parameters of current electron accelerators, we predict a 26 as, 5 GW peak-power pulse spanning wavelengths down to 15 nm.

Time Dependence of Ultra-Short Laser Pulses Scattering by Atom in High Frequency Limit

We investigated theoretically the time dependence of ultra-short laser pulse scattering by an atom at the high-frequency limit for the spectral and total probability of the process using new expression which we derived in this paper. We established that the time dependence of spectral scattering is presented by the curve with the maximum for sufficiently large detuning of scattering frequency from the carrier frequency of the pulse, while the total scattering probability is always the monotonically increasing function of time. We also studied the dependence of scattering probability on pulse duration at the long-time limit. It was shown that, at the long-pulse limit, the scattering probability is a linear function of pulse duration, while in the opposite case, it is a function with maximum. The position of this maximum is determined by the detuning of the scattering frequency from the carrier frequency of the pulse.

Shortening the pulse duration in seeded free-electron lasers by chirped microbunching

In externally seeded free-electron lasers (FELs) that rely on a frequency upconversion scheme to generate intense short-wavelength light pulses, the slippage effect in the radiator imposes a lower limit on the FEL pulse duration, which is typically on the order of a few tens of femtoseconds. Recently it was proposed that a combination of a chirped microbunch and a tapered undulator can be used to break this limit. Although the method has the potential to reduce the FEL pulse duration down to a level that cannot be achieved by current state-of-the-art technology, it requires a very short seed pulse (∼ one optical cycle or less), making it challenging to put this concept into practical use. Here, we propose an alternative technique to relax the requirement on the seed pulse length. We show that the modified scheme allows generation of FEL pulses with durations much shorter than that determined by the seed pulse and the slippage effect. The performance of the method, which can easily be implemented at existing seeded FEL user facilities, is evaluated through a campaign of analytical calculations and simulations. For our set of typical seeded FEL parameters, we expect the generation of 1.6 fs long pulses at 26 nm with a peak power of 10 GW using a 20 fs long chirped seed pulse operating at 260 nm.

Attosecond single-cycle undulator light: a review

Research at modern light sources continues to improve our knowledge of the natural world, from the subtle workings of life to matter under extreme conditions. Free-electron lasers, for instance, have enabled the characterization of biomolecular structures with sub-ångström spatial resolution, and paved the way to controlling the molecular functions. On the other hand, attosecond temporal resolution is necessary to broaden our scope of the ultrafast world. Here we discuss attosecond pulse generation beyond present capabilities. Furthermore, we review three recently proposed methods of generating attosecond x-ray pulses. These novel methods exploit the coherent radiation of microbunched electrons in undulators and the tailoring of the emitted wavefronts. The computed pulse energy outperforms pre-existing technologies by three orders of magnitude. Specifically, our simulations of the proposed Soft X-ray Laser at MAX IV (Lund, Sweden) show that a pulse duration of 50-100 as and a pulse energy up to 5 [Formula: see text]J is feasible with the novel methods. In addition, the methods feature pulse shape control, enable the incorporation of orbital angular momentum, and can be used in combination with modern compact free-electron laser setups.

Difference frequency generation in free electron lasers

We propose a simple scheme for difference frequency generation in free electron lasers (FELs), in which the electron beam interacts with a dual-frequency laser and emits intense coherent radiation at the difference frequency. We analytically show that the microbunch formation in the electron beam, which is the most important process in FELs, is dominated by nonlinear wave mixing in the proposed scheme. Numerical examples of applying the proposed scheme to generating terahertz radiation are presented as one of the most important applications.

Analytical model of waveform-controlled single-cycle light pulses from an undulator

This Letter builds upon a recent concept [Phys. Rev. Lett.113, 104801 (2014)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.113.104801] for producing ultrashort optical pulses through the coherent radiation of electrons in an undulator. Each pulse contains only a single oscillation cycle, and has a controlled waveform (and hence a stable carrier-envelope phase). While the concept had been demonstrated numerically, this Letter provides an analytical model for the radiation mechanism, thereby revealing three key observations: (i) the correlation between the waveforms of the optical and undulator fields; (ii) the free-space dispersion of transversely confined light; and (iii) the dependence of the optical pulse shape on the undulator field strength.