Antonia Popp

Laser -driven soft-X-ray undulator source

High-intensity X-ray sources such as synchrotrons and free-electron lasers need large particle accelerators to drive them. The demonstration of a synchrotron X-ray source that uses a laser-driven particle accelerator could widen the availability of intense X-rays for research in physics, materials science and biology. Synchrotrons and free-electron lasers are the most powerful sources of X-ray radiation. They constitute invaluable tools for a broad range of research1; however, their dependence on large-scale radiofrequency electron accelerators means that only a few of these sources exist worldwide. Laser-driven plasma-wave accelerators2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 provide markedly increased accelerating fields and hence offer the potential to shrink the size and cost of these X-ray sources to the university-laboratory scale. Here, we demonstrate the generation of soft-X-ray undulator radiation with laser-plasma-accelerated electron beams. The well-collimated beams deliver soft-X-ray pulses with an expected pulse duration of ∼10 fs (inferred from plasma-accelerator physics). Our source draws on a 30-cm-long undulator11 and a 1.5-cm-long accelerator delivering stable electron beams10 with energies of ∼210 MeV. The spectrum of the generated undulator radiation typically consists of a main peak centred at a wavelength of ∼18 nm (fundamental), a second peak near ∼9 nm (second harmonic) and a high-energy cutoff at ∼7 nm. Magnetic quadrupole lenses11 ensure efficient electron-beam transport and demonstrate an enabling technology for reproducible generation of tunable undulator radiation. The source is scalable to shorter wavelengths by increasing the electron energy. Our results open the prospect of tunable, brilliant, ultrashort-pulsed X-ray sources for small-scale laboratories.

GeV-scale electron acceleration in a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide

We report experimental results on laser-driven electron acceleration with low divergence. The electron beam was generated by focussing 750 mJ, 42 fs laser pulses into a gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide at electron densities in the range between 10 18 and 10 19 cm 3 . Quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches with energies as high as 500 MeV have been detected, with features reaching up to 1 GeV, albeit with large shot-to-shot fluctuations. A more stable regime with higher bunch charge (20-45 pC) and less energy (200-300 MeV) could also be observed. The beam divergence and the pointing stability are around or below 1 mrad and 8 mrad, respectively. These findings are consistent with self-injection of electrons into a breaking plasma wave.

Absolute charge calibration of scintillating screens for relativistic electron detection

We report on new charge calibrations and linearity tests with high-dynamic range for eight different scintillating screens typically used for the detection of relativistic electrons from laser-plasma based acceleration schemes. The absolute charge calibration was done with picosecond electron bunches at the ELBE linear accelerator in Dresden. The lower detection limit in our setup for the most sensitive scintillating screen (KODAK Biomax MS) was 10 fC/mm(2). The screens showed a linear photon-to-charge dependency over several orders of magnitude. An onset of saturation effects starting around 10-100 pC/mm(2) was found for some of the screens. Additionally, a constant light source was employed as a luminosity reference to simplify the transfer of a one-time absolute calibration to different experimental setups.

Temporal evolution of longitudinal bunch profile in a laser wakefield accelerator

We present single-shot measurements of the longitudinal bunch profile from a laser-wakefield accelerator with sub-fs resolution, based on detection of coherent transition radiation in a broad spectral range. A previously developed phase retrieval algorithm enables reconstruction of the bunch profile without prior assumptions about its shape. In this study, a variable-length gas target is used to explore the dynamics of bunch evolution. Our results show that once the laser energy is depleted the time structure of the generated electron beam changes from a single bunch to a double bunch structure, well suited for driver-witness type experiments.

High energy diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser for ns-pulses

Nanosecond multi-pass amplification to the 1.7J-level based on diode-pumped Yb:YAG has been achieved. Applying a pump power of 26kW a quasi-CW peak output power of 4.5kW at a duty cycle of 0.1% has been obtained.

OPA development on the Petawatt Field Synthesizer

We report on recent OPCPA progress at the PFS system.We present a scheme for generating a broadband (700 nm-1400 nm) seed pulse for OPA, and a new preamplifier setup for the CPA pump laser chain.

Stable Laser-Driven Electron Beams from a Steady-State-Flow Gas Cell

Quasi-monoenergetic, laser-driven electron beams of up to {approx}200 MeV in energy have been generated from steady-state-flow gas cells [1]. These beams are emitted within a low-divergence cone of 2.1{+-}0.5 mrad FWHM and feature unparalleled shot-to-shot stability in energy (2.5% rms), pointing direction (1.4 mrad rms) and charge (16% rms) owing to a highly reproducible plasma-density profile within the laser-plasma-interaction volume. Laser-wakefield acceleration (LWFA) in gas cells of this type constitutes a simple and reliable source of relativistic electrons with well defined properties, which should allow for applications such as the production of extreme-ultraviolet undulator radiation in the near future.

Transverse beam profile measurements of laser accelerated electrons using coherent optical radiation

We use coherent optical transition radiation (COTR) to measure the transverse profile of laser-accelerated electron bunches. The retrieved electron beam profiles are compared to scintillator-based beam profile measurements.

First milestone on the path toward a table‐top free‐electron laser (FEL)

Latest developments in the field of laser‐wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) have led to relatively stable electron beams in terms of peak energy, charge, pointing and divergence from mm‐sized accelerators. Simulations and LWFA theory indicate that these beams have low transverse emittances and ultrashort bunch durations on the order of ∼10 fs. These features make LWFAs perfectly suitable for driving high‐brightness X‐ray undulator sources and free‐electron lasers (FELs) on a university‐laboratory scale. With the detection of soft‐X‐ray radiation from an undulator source driven by laser‐wakefield accelerated electrons, we succeeded in achieving a first milestone on this path. The source delivers remarkably stable photon beams which is mainly due to the stable electron beam and our miniature magnetic quadrupole lenses, which significantly reduce its divergence and angular shot‐to‐shot variation. An increase in electron energy allows for compact, tunable, hard‐X‐ray undulator sources. Improvements of the electr...