A. M. MacLeod

High-temporal-resolution, single-shot characterization of terahertz pulses

A technique for noncollinear cross correlation of electro-optic modulated optical pulses is presented for the single-shot characterization of terahertz waveforms and is compared to established electro-optic terahertz characterization methods. This technique is free from the limitations on time resolution and faithful reproduction of previously demonstrated single-shot amplitude modulation spectral encoding.

High quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator

Very stable, high quality electron beams (current ∼ 10 kA, energy spread < 1%, emittance ∼ 1π mm mrad) have been generated in a laser-plasma accelerator driven by 25 TW femtosecond laser pulses.

Temporally resolved electro-optic effect

The electro-optic effect between an ultrafast optical probe pulse and an ultrashort terahertz pulse is shown to depend on the time derivatives of the product of the probe and terahertz electric fields. Application of this theory to temporally resolved single-shot terahertz detection techniques, where the electro-optic effect is temporally localized within an optical probe pulse, shows that the description presented here differs fundamentally and verifiably from that commonly used in literature.

Upconversion of a relativistic Coulomb field terahertz pulse to the near infrared

We demonstrate the spectral upconversion of a unipolar subpicosecond terahertz (THz) pulse, where the THz pulse is the Coulomb field of a single relativistic electron bunch. The upconversion to the optical allows remotely located detection of long wavelength and nonpropagating components of the THz spectrum, as required for ultrafast electron bunch diagnostics. The upconversion of quasimonochromatic THz radiation has also been demonstrated, allowing the observation of distinct sum- and difference-frequency mixing components in the spectrum. Polarization dependence of first and second order sidebands at ωopt±ωTHz, and ωopt±2ωTHz, respectively, confirms the χ(2) frequency mixing mechanism.

An ultrashort pulse ultra-violet radiation undulator source driven by a laser plasma wakefield accelerator

Narrow band undulator radiation tuneable over the wavelength range of 150–260 nm has been produced by short electron bunches from a 2 mm long laser plasma wakefield accelerator based on a 20 TW femtosecond laser system. The number of photons measured is up to 9 × 106 per shot for a 100 period undulator, with a mean peak brilliance of 1 × 1018 photons/s/mrad2/mm2/0.1% bandwidth. Simulations estimate that the driving electron bunch r.m.s. duration is as short as 3 fs when the electron beam has energy of 120–130 MeV with the radiation pulse duration in the range of 50–100 fs.

Feasibility of a far-infrared free-electron laser as voltage-controlled optical oscillator

Abstract The use of a far-infrared free-electron laser as voltage-controlled optical oscillator is reported. The optical spectrum is able to follow a set of pre-programmed waveforms applied to the electron energy. The time-resolved spectral output has been measured at several wavelengths and cavity desynchronisms. Maximum sweep rates of 1.4%/μs were measured at 20μm wavelength and total sweeps of 2.0% in wavelength have been produced.

IntelliChair: An Approach for Activity Detection and Prediction via Posture Analysis

This paper proposes a robust, low-cost, sensor based system that is capable of recognising sitting postures and placing them in correspondence with sitting activities. This system is also capable of predicting subsequent activities for individual users. Force Sensing Resistors are mounted on the seat and back of a chair to gather the hap tic (i.e., Touch-based) posture information. Subsequently, posture information is fed into two classifiers, one for back posture and the other one for leg posture. A hidden Markov model approach is used to establish the activity model from sitting posture sequences. Furthermore, by implementing a context awareness prediction algorithm (e.g. Active-Lezi), the system discovers patterns and predicts subsequent activities. The system will lead to many potential applications such as the analysis of sitting or lying subjects, motion tracking for rehabilitation, interaction assistance, and the detection of anomalous activities.

Narrow spread electron beams from a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator

The Advanced Laser-Plasma High-Energy Accelerators towards X-rays (ALPHA-X) programme is developing laserplasma accelerators for the production of ultra-short electron bunches with subsequent generation of incoherent radiation pulses from plasma and coherent short-wavelength radiation pulses from a free-electron laser (FEL). The first quantitative measurements of the electron energy spectra have been made on the University of Strathclyde ALPHA-X wakefield acceleration beam line. A high peak power laser pulse (energy 900 mJ, duration 35 fs) is focused into a gas jet (nozzle length 2 mm) using an F/16 spherical mirror. Electrons from the laser-induced plasma are self-injected into the accelerating potential of the plasma density wake behind the laser pulse. Electron beams emitted from the plasma have been imaged downstream using a series of Lanex screens positioned along the beam line axis and the divergence of the electron beam has been measured to be typically in the range 1-3 mrad. Measurements of the electron energy spectrum, obtained using the ALPHA-X high resolution magnetic dipole spectrometer, are presented. The maximum central energy of the monoenergetic beam is 90 MeV and r.m.s. relative energy spreads as low as 0.8% are measured. The mean central energy is 82 MeV and mean relative energy spread is 1.1%. A theoretical analysis of this unexpectedly high electron beam quality is presented and the potential impact on the viability of FELs driven by electron beams from laser wakefield accelerators is examined.

Real-time single-shot electron bunch length measurements

Linear accelerators employed as drivers for X-ray free electron lasers (FELs) require relativistic electron bunch with sub-picosecond bunch length. Precise bunch length measurements are important for the tuning and operation of the FELs. Previously, we have demonstrated that electro-optic detection is a powerful technique for sub-picosecond electron bunch length measurements. In those experiments, the measured bunch length was the average of all electron bunches within a macropulse. Here, for the first time, we present the measurement of the length of individual electron bunches using a development of our previous technique. In this experiment, the longitudinal electron bunch shape is encoded electro-optically on to the frequency spectrum of a chirped laser pulse. Subsequently, the laser pulse is dispersed by a grating and the spectrum is imaged with a CCD camera. Single bunch measurements are achieved by using a nanosecond gated camera, and synchronizing the gate with both the electron bunch and the laser pulse repetition rates. The electron bunch length is determined by measuring the laser pulse spectra with and without the presence of an electron bunch. We demonstrate that this method enables a real-time diagnostic for the bunch length of single electron bunches with a time resolution of 370 femtoseconds and a high signal-noise-ratio.

Reply to comment on "temporally resolved electro-optic effect"

In our Letter [Opt. Lett. 31, 1753 (2006) ], we derived, in a very general way, the temporal electric field modifications due to the 휒(2) electro-optic effect; to maintain generality we did not seek to narrow our result to specific experimental conditions, nor did we make any assumptions about birefringence or polarization states. A description of specific experimental conditions can be simply obtained by applying an appropriate Jones matrix calculation. The results noted in the Comment of Yellampalle et al. [Opt. Lett. 32, 1341 (2007) ] are no more than a particular application of our general results.