Bruce W. Woods

Femtosecond diffractive imaging with a soft-X-ray free-electron laser

Theory predicts1,2,3,4 that, with an ultrashort and extremely bright coherent X-ray pulse, a single diffraction pattern may be recorded from a large macromolecule, a virus or a cell before the sample explodes and turns into a plasma. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of this principle using the FLASH soft-X-ray free-electron laser. An intense 25 fs, 4×1013 W cm−2 pulse, containing 1012 photons at 32 nm wavelength, produced a coherent diffraction pattern from a nanostructured non-periodic object, before destroying it at 60,000 K. A novel X-ray camera assured single-photon detection sensitivity by filtering out parasitic scattering and plasma radiation. The reconstructed image, obtained directly from the coherent pattern by phase retrieval through oversampling5,6,7,8,9, shows no measurable damage, and is reconstructed at the diffraction-limited resolution. A three-dimensional data set may be assembled from such images when copies of a reproducible sample are exposed to the beam one by one10.

Carbon nanotube array based sensor

Abstract. Aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) grown on platinum substrate are used for the development of an amperometric biosensor. The opening and functionalization by oxidation of the nanotube array allows for the efficient immobilization of the model enzyme, glucose oxidase. The carboxylated open-ends of nanotubes are used for the immobilization of the enzymes, while the platinum substrate provides the direct transduction platform for signal monitoring. It is also shown that carbon nanotubes can play a dual role, both as immobilization matrices and as mediators, allowing for the development of a third generation of biosensor systems, with good overall analytical characteristics.

Random phase plates for beam smoothing on the Nova laser

We discuss the design and fabrication of 80-cm-diameter random phase plates for target-plane beam smoothing on the Nova laser. Random phase plates have been used in a variety of inertial confinement fusion target experiments, such as studying direct-drive hydrodynamic stability and producing spatially smooth x-ray backlighting sources. These phase plates were produced by using a novel sol-gel dip-coating technique developed by us. The sol-gel phase plates have a high optical damage threshold at the second- and third-harmonic wavelengths of the Nd:glass laser and have excellent optical performance.

Thermomechanical and thermo-optical properties of the LiCaAlF 6 :Cr 3+ laser material

Measurements of the intrinsic thermomechanical and thermo-optical properties of the new laser material LiCaAlF6:Cr3+ (known as Cr:LiCAF) are performed. Thermal diffusivity, heat capacity, thermal expansion, elastic constants, fracture toughness, and dispersion and temperature variation of the refractive index are all characterized for this material. In addition, the magnitude of the thermal lensing induced in a flash-lamp-pumped laser rod of Cr:LiCAF is measured and compared with the results obtained for an alexandrite laser rod in the same laser head. We find that the thermal lensing of Cr:LiCAF is favorably small and that the thermomechanical properties are expected to be adequate for applications at low and medium average power.

Sources of optical distortion in rapidly grown crystals of KH2PO4

Abstract We report the results of X-ray topographic and optical measurements on KH 2 PO 4 crystals grown at rates of 5–30 mm/day. We show that optical distortion in these crystals is caused primarily by three sources: dislocations, differences in composition between adjacent growth sectors of the crystal, and differences in composition between adjacent sectors of vicinal-growth hillocks within a single growth sector of the crystal. We find that the compositional heterogeneities cause spatial variations in the refractive index and induce a distortion of the transmitted-wave front, while large groups of dislocations are responsible for strain-induced birefringence which leads to beam depolarization.

PERFORMANCE OF LARGE-APERTURE OPTICAL SWITCHES FOR HIGH-ENERGY INERTIAL-CONFINEMENT FUSION LASERS

We describe the design and performance of large-aperture (>30 cm × 30 cm) optical switches that have demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, active switching of a high-energy (>5 kJ) optical pulse in an inertial-confinement fusion laser. These optical switches, which consist of a plasma-electrode Pockels cell (PEPC) and a passive polarizer, permit the design of efficient, multipass laser amplifiers. In a PEPC, plasma discharges on the faces of a thin (1-cm) electro-optic crystal (KDP or KD*P) act as highly conductive and transparent electrodes. These plasma electrodes facilitate rapid (<100 ns) and uniform charging of the crystal to the half-wave voltage and discharging back to 0 V. We discuss the operating principles, design, optical performance, and technical issues of a 32 cm × 32 cm prototype PEPC with both KDP and KD*P crystals, and a 37 cm × 37 cm PEPC with a KDP crystal for the Beamlet laser. This PEPC recently switched a 6-kJ, 3-ns pulse in a four-pass cavity.

Experimental comparison of a Shack–Hartmann sensor and a phase-shifting interferometer for large-optics metrology applications

We performed a direct side-by-side comparison of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor and a phase-shifting interferometer for the purpose of characterizing large optics. An expansion telescope of our own design allowed us to measure the surface figure of a 400-mm-square mirror with both instruments simultaneously. The Shack-Hartmann sensor produced data that closely matched the interferometer data over spatial scales appropriate for the lenslet spacing, and much of the <20-nm rms systematic difference between the two measurements was due to diffraction artifacts that were present in the interferometer data but not in the Shack-Hartmann sensor data. The results suggest that Shack-Hartmann sensors could replace phase-shifting interferometers for many applications, with particular advantages for large-optic metrology.

Aerosol Imaging with a Soft X-Ray Free Electron Laser

Lasers have long played a critical role in the advancement of aerosol science. A new regime of ultrafast laser technology has recently be realized, the worlds first soft x-ray free electron laser. The Free electron LASer in Hamburg, FLASH, user facility produces a steady source of 10 femtosecond pulses of 7–32 nm x-rays with 1012 photons per pulse. The high brightness, short wavelength, and high repetition rate (> 500 pulses per second) of this laser offers unique capabilities for aerosol characterization. Here we use FLASH to perform the highest resolution imaging of single PM2.5 aerosol particles in flight to date. We resolve to 35 nm the morphology of fibrous and aggregated spherical carbonaceous nanoparticles that existed for less than two milliseconds in vacuum. Our result opens the possibility for high spatial- and time-resolved single particle aerosol dynamics studies, filling a critical technological need in aerosol science.

Camera for coherent diffractive imaging and holography with a soft-x-ray free-electron laser

We describe a camera to record coherent scattering patterns with a soft-x-ray free-electron laser (FEL). The camera consists of a laterally graded multilayer mirror, which reflects the diffraction pattern onto a CCD detector. The mirror acts as a bandpass filter for both the wavelength and the angle, which isolates the desired scattering pattern from nonsample scattering or incoherent emission from the sample. The mirror also solves the particular problem of the extreme intensity of the FEL pulses, which are focused to greater than 10(14) W/cm2. The strong undiffracted pulse passes through a hole in the mirror and propagates onto a beam dump at a distance behind the instrument rather than interacting with a beam stop placed near the CCD. The camera concept is extendable for the full range of the fundamental wavelength of the free electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) FEL (i.e., between 6 and 60 nm) and into the water window. We have fabricated and tested various multilayer mirrors for wavelengths of 32, 16, 13.5, and 4.5 nm. At the shorter wavelengths mirror roughness must be minimized to reduce scattering from the mirror. We have recorded over 30,000 diffraction patterns at the FLASH FEL with no observable mirror damage or degradation of performance.

Multipurpose modular experimental station for the DiProI beamline of Fermi@Elettra free electron laser.

We present a compact modular apparatus with a flexible design that will be operated at the DiProI beamline of the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) for performing static and time-resolved coherent diffraction imaging experiments, taking advantage of the full coherence and variable polarization of the short seeded FEL pulses. The apparatus has been assembled and the potential of the experimental setup is demonstrated by commissioning tests with coherent synchrotron radiation. This multipurpose experimental station will be open to general users after installation at the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser in 2011.