M. Zangrando

Two-colour pump–probe experiments with a twin-pulse-seed extreme ultraviolet free-electron laser

Exploring the dynamics of matter driven to extreme non-equilibrium states by an intense ultrashort X-ray pulse is becoming reality, thanks to the advent of free-electron laser technology that allows development of different schemes for probing the response at variable time delay with a second pulse. Here we report the generation of two-colour extreme ultraviolet pulses of controlled wavelengths, intensity and timing by seeding of high-gain harmonic generation free-electron laser with multiple independent laser pulses. The potential of this new scheme is demonstrated by the time evolution of a titanium-grating diffraction pattern, tuning the two coherent pulses to the titanium M-resonance and varying their intensities. This reveals that an intense pulse induces abrupt pattern changes on a time scale shorter than hydrodynamic expansion and ablation. This result exemplifies the essential capabilities of the jitter-free multiple-colour free-electron laser pulse sequences to study evolving states of matter with element sensitivity.

Coherent control with a short-wavelength free-electron laser

Researchers demonstrate correlation of two colours (63.0 and 31.5 nm wavelengths) in a free-electron laser and control photoelectron angular distribution by adjusting phase with 3 attosecond resolution.

The photon analysis, delivery, and reduction system at the FERMI@Elettra free electron laser user facility

The FERMI@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) user facility is currently under construction at the Sincrotrone Trieste laboratory in Trieste (Italy). It will cover the wavelength range from 100 to about 5 nm in the fundamental and 3 or 1 nm using the third harmonic. We report the layout of the photon beam diagnostics section, the radiation transport system to the experimental area, and the photon beam distribution system. Due to the peculiar characteristics of the emitted FEL radiation (high peak power, short pulse length, and statistical variation of the emitted intensity and distribution), the realization of the diagnostics system is particularly challenging. The end users are interested in parameters such as the radiation pulse intensity and spectral distribution, as well as in the possibility to attenuate the intensity. In order to accomplish these tasks, a photon analysis, delivery, and reduction system is now under development and construction and is presented here. This system will work on-line producing pulse-resolved information and will let users keep track of the photon beam parameters during the experiments.

Polarized high-brilliance and high-resolution soft x-ray source at ELETTRA: The performance of beamline BACH

BACH, a soft x-ray beamline for polarization-dependent experiments at the Italian synchrotron radiation facility ELETTRA, was recently completed and characterized. Its performance, in terms of energy resolution, flux and polarization, is presented. Based on two APPLE II undulators, BACH covers the energy range between 35 and 1600 eV with the control of the light polarization. The monochromator is equipped with four gratings and allows one to work either in a high resolution or in a high flux mode. After the monochromator, the beamline is split into two branches with different refocusing properties. One is optimized to exploit the performance of the soft x-ray spectrometer (ComIXS) available at the beamline. Resolving powers between 12000 at 90 eV photon energy and 6600 near 867 eV were achieved using the high-resolution gratings and the smallest available slit width (10u2002μm). For the high-brilliance grating, which works between 290 and 1600 eV, resolving powers between 7000 at 400 eV and 2200 at 867 eV wer...

Extreme ultraviolet multilayer for the FERMI@Elettra free electron laser beam transport system

In this work we present the design of a Pd/B₄C multilayer structure optimized for high reflectance at 6.67 nm. The structure has been deposited and also characterized along one year in order to investigate its temporal stability. This coating has been developed for the beam transport system of FERMI@Elettra Free Electron Laser: the use of an additional aperiodic capping layer on top of the structure combines the high reflectance with filter properties useful in rejecting the fundamental harmonic when the goal is to select the third FEL harmonic.

X-ray beam-shaping via deformable mirrors: Analytical computation of the required mirror profile

Abstract X-ray mirrors with high focusing performances are in use in both mirror modules for X-ray telescopes and in synchrotron and FEL (Free Electron Laser) beamlines. A degradation of the focus sharpness arises in general from geometrical deformations and surface roughness, the former usually described by geometrical optics and the latter by physical optics. In general, technological developments are aimed at a very tight focusing, which requires the mirror profile to comply with the nominal shape as much as possible and to keep the roughness at a negligible level. However, a deliberate deformation of the mirror can be made to endow the focus with a desired size and distribution, via piezo actuators as done at the EIS-TIMEX beamline of FERMI@Elettra. The resulting profile can be characterized with a Long Trace Profilometer and correlated with the expected optical quality via a wavefront propagation code. However, if the roughness contribution can be neglected, the computation can be performed via a ray-tracing routine, and, under opportune assumptions, the focal spot profile (the Point Spread Function, PSF) can even be predicted analytically. The advantage of this approach is that the analytical relation can be reversed; i.e., from the desired PSF the required mirror profile can be computed easily, thereby avoiding the use of complex and time-consuming numerical codes. The method can also be suited in the case of spatially inhomogeneous beam intensities, as commonly experienced at synchrotrons and FELs. In this work we expose the analytical method and the application to the beam shaping problem.

Technique for measuring the groove density of diffraction gratings using the long trace profiler

Diffraction gratings are the most efficient systems for dispersing radiation in the soft x-ray and extreme ultraviolet region. They can have a constant periodic structure or a variable line spacing. The performance of an instrument adopting optics depends on the grating manufacturing errors. These could be both slope errors (routinely measured by various instruments) and undesired groove density variation. The measurement of the groove density is mainly performed with home-made setups, which use the diffraction pattern generated by a laser or, sometimes, the images collected with an atomic force microscope or a scanning tunneling microscope. With the use of a long trace profiler (LTP), an instrument developed to measure the longitudinal profile of a mirror, a method to measure the groove density (and the groove density variation) of a surface diffraction grating was developed. It consists of the measurement of the angle of a particular diffraction order, taking advantage of the extreme angular precision of the LTP. An accuracy of one part per million, or better, in the determination of the groove density constancy/variation, is reached. This method demonstrates the great versatility of the LTP and, in particular, its infinite depth of field.

ComIXS on BACH: a compact soft x‐ray spectrometer operating at Elettra

To accommodate increasing interest in soft x‐ray inelastic scattering, a new spectrometer has been designed, constructed and commissioned at Elettra. This instrument uses as the dispersive element one of two interchangeable Variable Line Spacing (VLS) spherical gratings. The energy scan is performed by a 7 cm linear translation of a back illuminated CCD which also collects the zero order light, facilitating alignment and calibration. The two gratings have the same radius of curvature while the groove densities and the groove density variations differ by a factor four. Thus the energies focused by the gratings at a particular position differ by a factor of four. The total length of the instrument is 60 cm, the energy range covered is roughly 25–1000 eV and the expected resolving power ranges from 1000 to 5000. The spectrometer is now operating on the beamline Bach. It takes advantage of the small size of the photon spot in the experimental chamber and of the possibility to control the polarization of the i...

First results from the commissioning of the FERMI@Elettra free electron laser by means of the Photon Analysis Delivery and Reduction System (PADReS)

The Italian Free Electron Laser (FEL) facility FERMI@Elettra has started to produce photon radiation at the end of 2010. The photon beam is presently delivered by the first undulator chain (FEL1) that is supposed to produce photons in the 100-20 nm wavelength range. A second undulator chain (FEL2) will be commissioned at the end of 2011, and it will produce radiation in the 20-4nm range. The Photon Analysis Delivery and Reduction System (PADReS) was designed to collect the radiation coming from both the undulator chains (FEL1 and FEL2), to characterize and control it, and to redirect it towards the following beamlines. The first parameters that are checked are the pulse-resolved intensity and beam position. For each of these parameters two dedicated monitors are installed along PADReS on each FEL line. In this way it possible to determine the intensity reduction that is realized by the gas reduction system, which is capable of cutting the intensity by up to four orders of magnitude. The energy distribution of each single pulse is characterized by an online spectrometer installed in the experimental hall. Taking advantage of a variable line-spacing grating it can direct the almost-full beam to the beamlines, while it uses a small fraction of the beam itself to determine the spectral distribution of each pulse delivered by the FEL. The first light of FERMI@Elettra, delivered to the PADReS section in late 2010, is used for the first commissioning runs and some preliminary experiments whose results are reported and discussed in detail.

An active optics system for EUV/soft x-ray beam shaping

FERMI@Elettra is a VUV/Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser (FEL) user facility under commissioning in Trieste, Italy. It provides a spatially coherent transform-limited photon beam in the sub-ps regime with high fluence and tunable wavelength. One of the FERMI beamlines, TIMEX, will be dedicated to the study of matter under extreme and metastable conditions, created and probed by the FEL radiation. Moreover, an active optics dedicated to perform the beam shaping at focus is needed in order to provide the necessary flat-top intensity distribution for heating the sample uniformly. In this work the principles of the beam shaping applied to the TIMEX beamline will be discussed as well as the adopted solution. Ray tracing simulations will be shown for theoretical mirror profiles as well as the metrological measurements with an interferometer and the Long Trace Profiler (LTP).