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Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers
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Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024 | Viewed by 10754

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Wolfram Helml

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Synchrotron Radiation, Department of Physics, TU Dortmund University, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Interests: X-ray spectroscopy; short-pulse X-ray sources; angle-resolved photoelectron dynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ryan Coffee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
LCLS-SLAC National Accelerator Lab, Menlo Park, CA, USA
Interests: molecular physics; ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy; material response to electronic excitation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We cordially invite you to participate in this Special Issue on auspicious ideas for future science at X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). The issue should cover both novel concepts for tailored X-ray pulse generation and characterization, as well as pioneering experimental schemes and state-of-the-art research taking advantage of these exciting new possibilities.

A major focus shall lie in contributions concerning the emerging science with sub-femtosecond X-ray pulses, from the generation and control of attosecond pulses to the study of attosecond dynamics at free-electron lasers, covering the initial excitation or ionization steps in small gas-phase systems, in the condensed phase and in (quantum) materials, ultrafast charge and energy transfer in molecules, photochemical dynamics, ultrafast magnetic exchange and spin switching, and time-resolved imaging, as well as the investigation of X-ray-driven strong-field phenomena.

It is envisioned that attosecond pulses will give a new twist to XFELs and stimulate cooperation between diverse research areas, which shall be supported by the broad scope of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Wolfram Helml
Dr. Ryan Coffee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • free-electron lasers
  • attosecond X-ray science
  • charge transport
  • nonlinear X-ray–matter interactions
  • photochemistry
  • ultrafast spin switching
  • coherent control
  • time-resolved X-ray imaging

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2695 KiB  
Article
Two-Color Operation of a Soft X-ray FEL with Alternation of Undulator Tunes
by Evgeny Schneidmiller, Ivette J. Bermudez Macias, Martin Beye, Markus Braune, Marie Kristin Czwalinna, Stefan Düsterer, Bart Faatz, Rosen Ivanov, Ulf Fini Jastrow, Marion Kuhlmann, Juliane Rönsch-Schulenburg, Siegfried Schreiber, Andrey Sorokin, Kai Tiedtke, Mikhail Yurkov and Johann Zemella
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010067 - 21 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1798
Abstract
FLASH is the first soft X-ray FEL user facility, routinely providing brilliant photon beams for users since 2005. The second undulator branch of this facility, FLASH2, is gap-tunable, which allows for testing and using advanced lasing concepts. In particular, we developed a two-color [...] Read more.
FLASH is the first soft X-ray FEL user facility, routinely providing brilliant photon beams for users since 2005. The second undulator branch of this facility, FLASH2, is gap-tunable, which allows for testing and using advanced lasing concepts. In particular, we developed a two-color operation mode based on the alternatingly tuned undulator segments (every other segment is tuned to the second wavelength). This scheme is advantageous in comparison with a subsequent generation of two colors in two consecutive sections of the undulator line. First, source positions of the two FEL beams are close to each other which makes it easier to focus them on a sample. Second, the amplification is more efficient in this configuration since the segments with respectively “wrong” wavelength still act as bunchers. We studied operation of this scheme in the regime of small and large separation of tunes (up to a factor of two). We developed new methods for online intensity measurements of the two colors simultaneously that require a combination of two detectors. We also demonstrated our capabilities to measure spectral and temporal properties of two pulses with different wavelengths. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers)
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11 pages, 4768 KiB  
Article
Improving the Performance of an Ultrashort Soft X-ray Free-Electron Laser via Attosecond Afterburners
by Lingjun Tu, Zheng Qi, Zhen Wang, Sheng Zhao, Yujie Lu, Weijie Fan, Hao Sun, Xiaofan Wang, Chao Feng and Zhentang Zhao
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(22), 11850; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122211850 - 21 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2022
Abstract
In this study, we implement attosecond afterburners in an ultrashort soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) to improve the performance of generating attosecond pulses. In this scheme, the FEL pulse produced in the normal radiator section is dumped while the well bunched electron beam [...] Read more.
In this study, we implement attosecond afterburners in an ultrashort soft X-ray free-electron laser (FEL) to improve the performance of generating attosecond pulses. In this scheme, the FEL pulse produced in the normal radiator section is dumped while the well bunched electron beam is reserved and reused in downstream afterburners. Subsequently, radiation in the afterburners gains rapidly as the bunching factor in the current spike is large, making the radiation pulse much shorter and cleaner than that from a normal radiator. Multi-shot simulations are carried out to demonstrate the performance and stability of the proposed technique. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers)
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18 pages, 8889 KiB  
Article
The DREAM Endstation at the Linac Coherent Light Source
by Peter Walter, Micheal Holmes, Razib Obaid, Lope Amores, Xianchao Cheng, James P. Cryan, James M. Glownia, Xiang Li, Ming-Fu Lin, May Ling Ng, Joseph Robinson, Niranjan Shivaram, Jing Yin, David Fritz, Justin James, Jean-Charles Castagna and Timur Osipov
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(20), 10534; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122010534 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2435
Abstract
Free-electron lasers (FEL), with their ultrashort pulses, ultrahigh intensities, and high repetition rates at short wavelength, have provided new approaches to Atomic and Molecular Optical Science. One such approach is following the birth of a photo electron to observe ion dynamics on an [...] Read more.
Free-electron lasers (FEL), with their ultrashort pulses, ultrahigh intensities, and high repetition rates at short wavelength, have provided new approaches to Atomic and Molecular Optical Science. One such approach is following the birth of a photo electron to observe ion dynamics on an ultrafast timescale. Such an approach presents the opportunity to decipher the photon-initiated structural dynamics of an isolated atomic and molecular species. It is a fundamental step towards understanding single- and non-linear multi-photon processes and coherent electron dynamics in atoms and molecules, ultimately leading to coherent control following FEL research breakthroughs in pulse shaping and polarization control. A key aspect for exploring photoinduced quantum phenomena is visualizing the collective motion of electrons and nuclei in a single reaction process, as dynamics in atoms/ions proceed at femtosecond (10−15 s) timescales while electronic dynamics take place in the attosecond timescale (10−18 s). Here, we report on the design of a Dynamic Reaction Microscope (DREAM) endstation located at the second interaction point of the Time-Resolved Molecular and Optical (TMO) instrument at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) capable of following the photon–matter interactions by detecting ions and electrons in coincidence. The DREAM endstation takes advantage of the pulse properties and high repetition rate of LCLS-II to perform gas-phase soft X-ray experiments in a wide spectrum of scientific domains. With its design ability to detect multi-ions and electrons in coincidence while operating in step with the high repetition rate of LCLS-II, the DREAM endstation takes advantage of the inherent momentum conservation of reaction product ions with participating electrons to reconstruct the original X-ray photon–matter interactions. In this report, we outline in detail the design of the DREAM endstation and its functionality, with scientific opportunities enabled by this state-of-the-art instrument. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers)
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11 pages, 1916 KiB  
Article
FEL Pulse Duration Evolution along Undulators at FLASH
by Mahdi M. Bidhendi, Ivette J. Bermudez Macias, Rosen Ivanov, Mikhail V. Yurkov and Stefan Düsterer
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(14), 7048; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147048 - 12 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2228
Abstract
Self-amplified spontaneous-emission (SASE) free-electron lasers (FELs) deliver ultrashort pulses with femtosecond durations. Due to the fluctuating nature of the radiation properties of SASE FELs, characterizing FEL pulses on a single-shot basis is necessary. Therefore, we use terahertz streaking to characterize the temporal properties [...] Read more.
Self-amplified spontaneous-emission (SASE) free-electron lasers (FELs) deliver ultrashort pulses with femtosecond durations. Due to the fluctuating nature of the radiation properties of SASE FELs, characterizing FEL pulses on a single-shot basis is necessary. Therefore, we use terahertz streaking to characterize the temporal properties of ultrashort extreme ultraviolet pulses from the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH). In this study, pulse duration as well as pulse energy are measured in a wavelength range from 8 to 34 nm as functions of undulators contributing to the lasing process. The results are compared to one-dimensional and three-dimensional, time-dependent FEL simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers)
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11 pages, 703 KiB  
Article
Electrons and X-rays to Muon Pairs (EXMP)
by Camilla Curatolo and Luca Serafini
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(6), 3149; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12063149 - 19 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1937
Abstract
One of the challenges of future muon colliders involves the production of muon beams carrying high phase space densities. In particular, the muon beam normalised transverse emittance is a relevant figure of merit used to meet luminosity requests. A typical issue impacting the [...] Read more.
One of the challenges of future muon colliders involves the production of muon beams carrying high phase space densities. In particular, the muon beam normalised transverse emittance is a relevant figure of merit used to meet luminosity requests. A typical issue impacting the achieved transverse emittance in muon collider schemes, thus far considered, is the phase space dilution caused by the Coulomb interaction of primary particles propagating into the target where muons were generated. In this study, we present a new scheme(named electrons and X-rays to muon pairs) for muon beam generation occurring in a vacuum via interactions of electron and photon beams. Setting the center of mass energy at about twice the threshold (i.e., around 350 MeV), the normalised emittance of the muon beam generated via muon pair production reaction (e−+γ→e−+μ++μ−) is largely independent on the emittance of the colliding electron beam and is set basically by the excess of transverse momentum in the muon pair creation. In absence of any other mechanism for emittance dilution, the resulting muon beam, with energy in the range of a few tens of GeV, is characterised by an ultra-low normalised transverse RMS emittance of a few nm rad, corresponding to a geometrical emittance below 10 π pm rad. This opens up the way to a new muon collider paradigm based on muon sources conceived with primary colliding beams delivered by 100 GeV-class energy recovery LINACs interacting with hard-X ray free electron lasers. The challenge is to achieve the requested luminosity of the muon collider adopting a strategy of low muon fluxes/currents combined to ultra-low emittances, to largely reduce the levels of muon beam-induced backgrounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Applications in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers)
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