The Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron laser has now achieved coherent X-ray generation down to a wavelength of 1.2 A and at a brightness that is nearly ten orders of magnitude higher than conventional synchrotrons. Researchers detail the first operation and beam characteristics of the system, which give hope for imaging at atomic spatial and temporal scales.

First lasing and operation of an ångstrom-wavelength free-electron laser

Researchers report sub-angstrom fundamental-wavelength lasing at the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-Electron Laser in Japan. The output has a maximum power of more than 10 GW, a pulse duration of 10−14 s and a lasing wavelength of 0.634 A.

A compact X-ray free-electron laser emitting in the sub-ångström region

Review of Charged Particle Dynamics. Beam Optics and Focusing Systems Without Space Charge. Linear Beam Optics with Space Charge. Self-Consistent Theory of Beams. Emittance Variation. Beam Physics Research from 1993 to 2007. Appendices. List of Frequently Used Symbols. Bibliography. Index.

Theory and Design of Charged Particle Beams

This self-contained, comprehensive book describes the fundamental properties of soft x-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation and discusses their applications in a wide variety of fields, including EUV lithography for semiconductor chip manufacture and soft x-ray biomicroscopy. The author begins by presenting the relevant basic principles such as radiation and scattering, wave propagation, diffraction, and coherence. He then goes on to examine a broad range of phenomena and applications. The topics covered include EUV lithography, biomicroscopy, spectromicroscopy, EUV astronomy, synchrotron radiation, and soft x-ray lasers. He also provides a great deal of useful reference material such as electron binding energies, characteristic emission lines and photo-absorption cross-sections. The book will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in engineering, physics, chemistry, and the life sciences. It will also appeal to practicing engineers involved in semiconductor fabrication and materials science.

X-Rays and Extreme Ultraviolet Radiation: Principles and Applications

With intensities 108–1010 times greater than other laboratory sources, X-ray free-electron lasers are currently opening up new frontiers across many areas of science. In this Review we describe how these unconventional lasers work, discuss the range of new sources being developed worldwide, and consider how such X-ray sources may develop over the coming years.

X-ray free-electron lasers

Single-pass free-electron lasers based on self-amplified spontaneous emission1,2,3,4 are enabling the generation of laser light at ever shorter wavelengths, including extreme ultraviolet5, soft X-rays and even hard X-rays6,7,8. A typical X-ray free-electron laser is a few kilometres in length and requires an electron-beam energy higher than 10 GeV (refs 6, 8). If such light sources are to become accessible to more researchers, a significant reduction in scale is desirable Here, we report observations of brilliant extreme-ultraviolet radiation from a 55-m-long compact self-amplified spontaneous-emission source, which combines short-period undulators with a high-quality electron source operating at a low acceleration energy of 250 MeV. The radiation power reaches saturation at wavelengths ranging from 51 to 61 nm with a maximum pulse energy of 30 µJ. The ultralow emittance (0.6π mm mrad) of the electron beam from a CeB6 thermionic cathode9 is barely degraded by a multiple-stage bunch compression system that dramatically enhances the beam current from 1 to 300 A. This achievement expands the potential for generating X-ray free-electron laser radiation with a compact 2-GeV machine. Free-electron lasers can produce powerful pulses of radiation at very short wavelengths, even in the hard-X-ray region. In general, however, they comprise facilities several kilometres in length. A 55-m-long laser could open up the technology to a broader range of researchers.

A compact free-electron laser for generating coherent radiation in the extreme ultraviolet region

We achieved stable operation of a free-electron laser (FEL) based on the self-amplified spontaneous-emission (SASE) scheme at the SPring-8 Compact SASE Source (SCSS) test accelerator in the extremely ultraviolet region. Saturation of the SASE FEL power has been achieved at wavelengths ranging from 50 to 60 nm. The pulse energy has reached $\ensuremath{\sim}30\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{J}$ at 60 nm. The observed fluctuation of the pulse energy is about 10% (standard deviation) for several hours, which agrees with the expectation from the SASE theory showing the stable operation of the accelerator. The SASE FEL has been routinely operated to provide photon beams for user experiments over a period of a few weeks. Analysis on the experimental data gave the normalized-slice emittance at the lasing part is around $0.7\ensuremath{\pi}\text{ }\mathrm{mm}\text{ }\mathrm{mrad}$. This result indicates that the normalized-slice emittance of the initial electron beam, $0.6\ensuremath{\pi}\text{ }\mathrm{mm}\text{ }\mathrm{mrad}$ in a 90% core part, is kept almost unchanged after the bunch compression process with a compression factor of approximately 300. The success of the SCSS test accelerator strongly encourages the realization of a compact XFEL source.

Yujong Kim

Papers

A compact free-electron laser for generating coherent radiation in the extreme ultraviolet region

Stable operation of a self-amplified spontaneous-emission free-electron laser in the extremely ultraviolet region