A Free Electron Laser oscillator with radiation wavelength 50-100 μm is under commissioning in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). Physical design of a linear polarizing undulator has been performed in HUST, with variable gap for K=1.0-1.25. The undulator was manufactured by Kyma s.r.l., by using a pure permanent magnet scheme. In December 2014, this undulator was installed in HUST and acceptance test showed main tolerances including rms phase error, field integrals corresponding variable gaps are well controlled. Design considerations related to physical and engineering issues, magnetic field performance are described. This paper introduces the development of an online field integrals measurement system for the undulator, using the stretched wire method. The design and considerations of the optical alignment system is described as well.

A short period undulator (1.4 cm) has been designed for the SPARC-FEL test facility and has been realized in collaboration with KYMA Srl. It has been installed on the undulator line at SPARC. The undulator, operating in a delta like mode, has been used as radiator in a segmented configuration. The first stage being provided by the five undulators of the SPARC FEL source “old” chain, with period 2.8 cm. The KYMA undulator has a quatrefoil structure, a high magnetic field homogeneity and focuses both in vertical and radial directions. The two sections, namely the bunching and radiating parts, are arranged in such a way that the second is adjusted on a harmonic of the first. Laser action occurring in the second part, is due to the bunching acquired in the first. Simulations of the temporal and spectral profiles in different electron beam operating conditions are reported, as well as the evolution of the longitudinal phase space. The agreement with the experimental results is discussed The importance of this experiment is at least threefold: 1) It proves that the segmented undulator can successfully be operated 2) It proves that the laser emission in the last undulator is entirely due to the bunching mechanism, being no second harmonic signal present in the first segment 3) Encourages various improvements of the configuration itself, as e.g. the use of a further undulator with variable magnetic field configuration in order to obtain a laser field with adjustable polarization.

Insertion devices are key components for high brightness third and fourth generation synchrotron facilities, and even for compact light sources where new acceleration concepts are envisioned. Different technological developments carried out worldwide lead to improved undulator performance. In-vacuum permanent magnet undulators demonstrate to be quite useful and adequate devices for present storage ring and Free Electron Lasers (FELs). Pushing towards higher fields with shorter undulator period becomes possible in operating at cryogenic temperature with Nd2Fe14B or Pr2Fe14B magnets. The development of Cryogenic Permanent Magnet Undulators (CPMU) is reported, including the issues in terms of magnet choice, thermal handling, magnetic measurements, radiation properties. Prospects for pushing the CPMU performances are given, with variable gap undulator or a combination with superconducting coils.

In 2014 KYMA S.r.l. has built two CHESS Compact Undulator (CCU) magnets that are at present installed and successfully operate at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring. This type of undulator was developed for upgrade of Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source beam-lines, but it can be used elsewhere as well. CCU magnets are compact, lightweight, cost efficient and in-vacuum compatible. They are linearly polarized undulators and have a fixed gap. Magnetic field tuning is achieved by phasing (shifting) top magnetic array relative bottom. Two CCUs constructed by KYMA S.r.l. have 28.4 mm period, 6.5 mm gap, 0.93 T peak field. Magnetic structure is of PPM type, made with NdFeB (40UH grade) permanent magnet material. Transitioning from the laboratory to industrial environment for a novel design required additional evaluation, design adjusting and extensive testing. Particular attention was given to the soldering technique used for fastening of the magnetic blocks to holders. This technique had thus far never been used before for undulator magnet construction by industry. The evaluation included tests of different types of soldering paste, measurements of strength of solder and determining the deformations of the soldered magnet and holder under simulated loading forces. This paper focuses on critical features of the CCU design, results of the soldering technique testing and the data regarding permanent magnets magnetization change due to soldering. In addition it deals with optimization-assisted assembly and the performance of the assembled devices and assesses some of the results of the CCU magnets operation at CESR.

Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL) is developing a 0.1 nm SASE based FEL based on 10 GeV S-band linear accelerator named PAL-XFEL. At the first stage, PAL-XFEL needs two undulator lines for photon source. The hard Xray undulator line requires 18 units of 5 m long hybrid-type conventional planar undulator and soft X-ray line requires 6 units of 5 m long hybrid type planar undulator with additional few EPUs for final polarization control. PAL is developing undulator magnetic structure based on EU-XFEL concepts. The key parameters are min pole gap of 8.3 mm, with period length 26 mm (HXU), 35 mm (SXU), and 5.0 m magnetic length. . In this report, the prototyping, and the development of pole tuning procedure, the impact of the background field error, and the effects of the girder bending on the optical phase error will be presented.

Modern ultrafast metrology relies on the postulate that the pulse to be measured is fully coherent, i.e. that it can be completely described by its spectrum and spectral phase. However, synthesizing fully coherent pulses is not always possible in practice, especially in the domain of emerging ultrashort X-ray sources where temporal metrology is strongly needed. As an example, the lack of longitudinal coherence, that is shot-to-shot fluctuations, of Free-Electron Lasers (FEL) has prevented so far their full amplitude and phase temporal characterization. To sort out this issue, we have adapted Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating (FROG), the first and one of the most widespread techniques for pulse characterization, to enable the measurement of partially coherent XUV pulses even down to the attosecond timescale. Especially, this technique allows one to overcome the sources of decoherence that normally prevent a pulse measurement, such as the spectrometer resolution or the presence of XUV/laser arrival time jitter.

ePix10k is a variant of a novel class of integrating pixel ASICs architectures optimized for the processing of signals in second generation LINAC Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-Ray cameras. The ASIC is optimized for high dynamic range application requiring high spatial resolution and fast frame rates. ePix ASICs are based on a common platform composed of a random access analog matrix of pixel with global shutter, fast parallel column readout, and dedicated sigma-delta analog to digital converters per column. The ePix10k variant has 100um×100um pixels arranged in a 176×192 matrix, a resolution of 140e- r.m.s. and a signal range of 3.5pC (10k photons at 8keV). In its final version it will be able to sustain a frame rate of 2kHz. A first prototype has been fabricated and characterized. Performance in terms of noise, linearity, uniformity, cross-talk, together with preliminary measurements with bump bonded sensors are reported here.

We describe the method of Heterodyne Near Field Speckles (HNFS) for the characterization of spatial and temporal coherence of radiation. The method relies on the statistical properties of the speckle field produced by spherical particles randomly distributed and suspended in a fluid. We report preliminary results obtained with broadband light sources. We discuss the results obtained with the Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission free electron laser SPARC LAB. This method will enable to calibrate and realize a diagnostics for the X-ray, broadband betatron radiation emitted in laser-plasma accelerators.

SwissFEL is the Free Electron Laser (FEL) facility under construction at the Paul Scherrer institute (PSI), aiming to provide users with X-ray pulses of lengths down to 2 femtoseconds at standard operation. The measurement of the length of the FEL pulses and their arrival time relative to the experimental laser is crucial for the pump-probe experiments carried out in such facilities. This work presents a new device that measures hard X-ray FEL pulses based on the THz streak camera concept. It describes the prototype setup called pulse arrival and length monitor (PALM) developed at PSI and tested in Spring-8 Angstrom Compact Free Electron Laser (SACLA) in Japan. Based on the first results obtained from the measurements, we introduce the new improved design of the second generation PALM setup that is currently under construction and will be used in SwissFEL photon diagnostics.

To create very short electron bunches or comb-like beams, able to drive a SASE-FEL, to produce THz radiation, or to drive a plasma beam driven accelerator is needed advanced phase space manipulation. The characterization of the 6D phase space is of paramount importance in order to verify that the beam parameters fulfill the expectation. At SPARCLAB we have integrated several longitudinal and transverse beam diagnostics for single bunch or for a train of comb-like bunches at THz repetition rate. Longitudinal diagnostic is based on RF deflecting cavity and a dispersive element. Quadrupole scan technique is used to measure the transverse emittance in single bunch mode or in conjunction respectively with a dipole, to separate beams of different energy, and RF deflector, to discriminates bunches with different time of arrival.

The APEX electron source at LBNL combines the high-repetition-rate with the high beam brightness typical of photoguns, delivering low emittance electron pulses at MHz frequency. Proving the high beam quality of the beam is an essential step for the success of the experiment, opening the doors of the high average power to brightness-hungry applications as X-Ray FELs, MHz ultrafast electron diffraction etc.. As first step, a complete characterization of the beam parameters is foreseen at the Gun beam energy of 750 keV. Diagnostics for low and high current measurements have been installed and tested, and measurements of cathode lifetime and thermal emittance in a RF environment with mA current performed. The recent installation of a double slit system, a deflecting cavity and a high precision spectrometer, allow the exploration of the full 6D phase space. Here we discuss the present layout of the machine and future upgrades, showing the latest results at low and high repetition rate, together with the tools and techniques used.

The seeded FEL FERMI has completed the commissioning of both the FEL lines, and it is now providing the user community with a coherent and tunable UV radiation (from 100 nm to 4 nm) in a number of different configurations. These also include original FEL-pump - FEL-probe schemes with twin-seeded FEL pulses. Among the key systems for the operation of FERMI, there is the femtosecond optical timing system and dedicated longitudinal diagnostics, specifically developed for FERMI. In this paper, after a short review of the FERMI optical timing system and of its routinely achieved performances, we focus on the results obtained from the suite of longitudinal diagnostics (Bunch Arrival Monitor, Electro Optical sampling station and RF deflectors) all operating in single shot and with 10s fs resolution which demonstrate the FERMI achieved performances. The longitudinal diagnostics measurements are compared between these device and other device on shot-to-shot basis, looking for correlations between machine parameters. Finally future challenges in terms of improvement of existing diagnostics, planned installations and possible upgrades are discussed.

Magnetization control without applying magnetic fields has potential for applications in sensors and devices. In Fe/MnAs/GaAs(001), the Fe magnetization can be modified by acting on the MnAs microstructure via temperature control, without applying external magnetic fields. Here we use an optical laser pulse to vary the local temperature and an x-ray free-electron laser pulse to probe the induced magnetic and structural dynamics in a time-resolved resonant scattering experiment, both pulses having ~100 fs duration. Modifications of the MnAs microstructure take place within a few ps, followed by a slower dynamics driven by thermal diffusion. We show that a single optical laser pulse can reverse the Fe magnetization locally, the process being driven not by the fast modifications of the MnAs structure, but rather by its slower return to equilibrium.

The PAL-XFEL, a 0.1-nm hard X-ray FEL facility consisting of a 10-GeV S-band linac, is being constructed in Pohang, South Korea. Its building construction was completed at the end of 2014. The major procurement contracts were complete for the critical components of S-band linac modules and undulators. The installation of linac, undulator, and beam line will be completed by 2015. The commissioning will get started in January 2016 aiming for the first lasing in 2016. We will report the current status, construction progress, and commissioning plans for the PAL XFEL project, including major subsystem preparations.

The FERMI seeded free electron laser facility, located at the Elettra laboratory in Trieste (Italy), has been operated for user experiments in the past years using the first FEL line, FEL-1, covering the VUV – EVU spectral range (100 – 20 nm). After the conclusion of the commissioning for the soft-X ray FEL line, FEL-2, the facility is now ready to provide the scientific community with intense FEL pulses (<10 μJ) characterized by a high degree of coherence and spectral stability in the whole range from 100 nm down to 4 nm. We report about the recent achievement of FERMI FELs and our experience with operations for user requiring specific FEL configurations.

We present the experimental evidence of the generation of coherent and statistically stable Free-Electron Laser (FEL) two color radiation obtained by seeding an electron double peaked beam in time and energy with a single peaked laser pulse. The FEL radiation presents two neat spectral lines, with time delay, frequency separation and relative intensity that can be accurately controlled. The analysis of the emission shows a temporal coherence and regularity in frequency significantly enhanced with respect to the Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE).

We consider the problem of shot-by-shot acquisition of pulse shapes at high repetition rate in accelerator-based systems. More specifically, we examine the two-step strategy consisting in (i) encoding the pulse information onto a laser pulse, and (ii) use the so-called time-stretch strategy to “slow-down” the information before recording. We thus show that the repetition rate of already existing electro-optic sampling setups can be straightforwardly increased up to the 100 ×10⁶ pulses/s range, and make a demonstration for the detection of coherent THz pulses. The strategy is however not limited to electro-optic sampling of THz pulses or electron bunches. It can be applied to other types of wavelengths, provided the desired information (as e.g., FEL pulses or electron bunches shapes) can be imprinted onto a laser pulse.

The SPARC LAB complex hosts a 150 MeV electron photo-injector equipped with an undulator for FEL production (SPARC) together with a high power TW laser (FLAME). Recently the synchronization system reached the performance of < 100 fs_RMS relative jitter between lasers, electron beam and RF accelerating fields. This matches the requirements for next future experiments: (i) the production of X-rays by means of Thomson scattering (first collisions achieved in 2014) and (ii) the particle driven PWFA experiment by means of multiple electron bunches. We report about the measurements taken during the machine operation using BAMs (Bunch Arrival Monitors) and EOS (Electro-Optical Sampling) system. A new R and D activity concerning the LWFA using the external injection of electron bunches in a plasma generated by the FLAME laser pulse is under design. The upgrade of the synchronization system is under way to guarantee the < 30 fs RMS jitter required specification. It foresees the transition from electrical to optical architecture that mainly affects the reference signal distribution and the time of arrival detection performances. The new system architecture is presented together with the related experimental data.

We present the optical layout of a reflective grating compressor specifically designed for extreme-ultraviolet FEL sources. The working principle is based on the use of a couple of constant-line-spaced gratings used at grazing incidence and illuminated in divergent light. The two possible grating configurations, namely the on-plane and off-plane, are analyzed and compared. The Group Delay Dispersion (GDD) introduced by the compressor is analytically analyzed and quantified. The spatial chirp also is considered, and its effect analyzed. The deviation from the ideal case in which the instrument is feed with a collimated beam is considered. The effect of the beam divergence on the compressor response is quantified and the attenuation of this effect by a “de-tuning” of the compressor is proposed. This solution avoids the use of a pre-collimating optics, therefore incrementing the total instrumental throughput. Finally, it is shown the optical design of an actual compressor for the FERMI FEL, that can be inserted in the optical path without any deviation or translation of the photon beam with respect to the nominal path.

In this manuscript we report on a compact experimental set-up (“mini-TIMER”) conceived for transient grating (TG) experiments based on free electron laser (FEL) radiation. This set-up has been tested at the seeded FEL facility FERMI (Elettra, Trieste, Italy) and allowed us to observe the first FEL-stimulated TG signal. This experimental result is of the greatest relevance in the context of developing coherent non-linear optical methods into the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray (SXR) range. Such a challenging task will be addressed in the next future at FERMI by using the present set-up and the forthcoming EIS-TIMER beamline, which is being installed at FERMI and will start the commissioning phase in the second semester 2015. The possibility to use TGs generated by FEL radiation at sub-optical wavelengths would allow developing EUV/SXR four-wave-mixing (FWM) applications, so far considered only theoretically and widely believed to be potentially able to provide major breakthroughs in several fields of science.

FERMI is the first user facility based upon an externally seeded free-electron laser (FEL) that delivers a coherent and tunable UV radiation (down to 4 nm at the fundamental) in a number of different configurations. A microbunching instability (MBI) developing in the bunch compressors and in the rest of the linac can degrade the quality of the high brightness electron beam sufficiently to reduce the FEL output intensity and spectral brightness. A laser heater installed in the low energy (100 MeV) part of the FERMI accelerator increases the local energy spread to provide Landau damping against this instability. In this paper we summarize the main results obtained with the FERMI laser heater since it commissioning in 2012. We present the measurement of the reduction of the incoherent energy spread at the linac exit induced by the heating of the electron beam at the beginning of the linac. We also discuss the positive effects of such heating upon the emission of coherent optical transition radiation and the FEL performances both in terms of intensity and spectrum. Moreover, we report about results that have been used to experimentally demonstrate that for transversely uniform heating the local energy spread augmentation is characterized by a non-Gaussian distribution that can be preserved up to the FEL undulator entrance with a significant impact on the performance of high-gain harmonic generation (HGHG) FELs, especially at soft x-ray wavelengths.

Baseline design of a typical X-ray FEL undulator assumes a planar configuration which results in a linear polarization of the FEL radiation. However, many experiments at X-ray FEL user facilities would profit from using a circularly polarized radiation. As a cheap upgrade one can consider an installation of a short helical (or cross-planar) afterburner, but then one should have an efficient method to suppress powerful linearly polarized background from the main undulator. In this paper we propose a new method for such a suppression: an application of the reverse taper in the main undulator. We discover that in a certain range of the taper strength, the density modulation (bunching) at saturation is practically the same as in the case of non-tapered undulator while the power of linearly polarized radiation is suppressed by orders of magnitude. Then strongly modulated electron beam radiates at full power in the afterburner. Considering SASE3 undulator of the European XFEL as a practical example, we demonstrate that soft X-ray radiation pulses with peak power in excess of 100 GW and an ultimately high degree of circular polarization can be produced. The proposed method is rather universal, i.e. it can be used at SASE FELs and seeded (self-seeded) FELs, with any wavelength of interest, in a wide range of electron beam parameters, and with any repetition rate.

Technique of undulator tapering in the post-saturation regime is used at the existing x-ray FELs for increasing the radiation power. There are also discussions on the future of high peak and average power FELs for scientific and industrial applications. Diffraction effects essentially influence on the choice of the tapering strategy. Recent studies resulted in an general law of the undulator tapering for a seeded FEL amplifier. In this paper we extend these results for the case of the Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) FEL.

The laser-plasma wakefield accelerator is a novel ultra-compact particle accelerator. A very intense laser pulse focused onto plasma can excites plasma density waves. Electrons surfing these waves can be accelerated to very high energies with unprecedented accelerating gradients in excess of 1 GV/cm. While accelerating, electrons undergo transverse betatron oscillations and emit synchrotron-like x-ray radiation into a narrow on-axis cone, which is enhanced when electrons interact with the electromagnetic field of the laser. In this case, the laser can resonantly drive the electron motion, lading to direct laser acceleration. This occurs when the betatron frequency matches the Doppler down-shifted frequency of the laser. As a consequence, the number of photons emitted is strongly enhanced and the critical photon energy is increases to 100’s of keV.

Generation of high power, femtosecond to sub-femtosecond x-ray pulses is attracting much attention within the x-ray free-electron laser (FEL) user community. At the existing FEL facilities, such as the Linac Coherent Light Source at SLAC, several methods have been developed to produce such short x-rays. Low-charge operation mode and emittance-spoiling scheme have successfully delivered short pulses for user experiments with duration less than 10 fs. A nonlinear compression mode has been recently developed and the pulse duration could be about 200 as. We will review the recent experimental progress at the LCLS for achieving few-femtosecond x-rays, and also discuss other short pulse schemes for reaching sub-femtosecond regime.

Seed lasers are employed to improve the temporal coherence of free-electron laser light. However, when seed pulses are short relative to the particle bunch, the noisy, temporally incoherent radiation from the un-seeded electrons can overwhelm the coherent, seeded radiation. In this paper a new seeding mechanism to improve the contrast between coherent and incoherent free electron laser radiation is employed together with a novel, simplified echo-seeding method. The concept relies on a combination of longitudinal space charge wakes and an echo-seeding technique to make a short, coherent pulse of FEL light together with noise background suppression. Several different simulation codes are used to illustrate the concept with conditions at the soft x-ray Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, FLASH. The impacts of coherent synchrotron radiation, intra beam scattering, and high peak current operation are investigated.

We analyze the possibility of producing two color X or γ radiation by Thomson/Compton back-scattering between a high intensity laser pulse and a two-energy level electron beam, constituted by a couple of beamlets separated in time and/or energy obtained by a photoinjector with comb laser techniques and linac velocity bunching. The parameters of the Thomson source at SPARC_LAB have been simulated, proposing a set of values for a realistic experiments.

An overview is given about the state-of-the-art of superradiant THz sources with a particular emphasize on very recent developments towards compact facilities based on super-conducting RF accelerator technology which enable quasi-cw operation at high repetition rates.

One direction towards compact Free Electron Laser is to replace the conventional linac by a laser plasma driven beam, provided proper electron beam manipulation to handle the large values of the energy spread and of the divergence. Applying seeding techniques enable also to reduce the required undulator length. The rapidly developing LWFA are already able to generate synchrotron radiation. With an electron divergence of typically 1 mrad and an energy spread of the order of 1 % (or few), an adequate beam manipulation through the transport to the undulator is needed for FEL amplification. Electron beam transfer follows different steps with strong focusing variable strength permanent magnet quadrupoles, an energy demixing chicane with conventional dipoles, a second set of quadrupoles for further dedicated focusing in the undulator. A test experiment for the demonstration of FEL amplification with a LWFA is under preparation and progress on the equipment preparation and expected performance are described.

Recent development of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sources based on high harmonic generation (HHG) in femtosecond enhancement cavities (fsEC) has enabled generation of high photon ux ( ̴ 10¹³-10¹⁴ photons/sec) in the XUV, at high repetition rates (> 50 MHz) and spanning the spectral region from 40 nm - 120 nm. Here we demonstrate the potential offered by this approach for angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy by measuring the photoemission spectrum of Au using 8.3 and 25 eV photons with excellent resolution at rapid data rates.

The optical klystron enhancement to a self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free electron laser (FEL) has been deeply studied in theory and in simulations. In this FEL scheme, a relativistic electron beam passes through two undulators, separated by a dispersive section. The latter converts the electron-beam energy modulation produced in the first undulator in density modulation, thus enhancing the free-electron laser gain. We report the first experiment that has been carried out at the FERMI facility in Trieste, of enhancement to a SASE FEL by using the optical klystron scheme. XUV photons have been produced with an intensity several orders of magnitude larger than in pure SASE mode. The impact of the uncorrelated energy spread of the electron beam on the optical klystron SASE performance has been also investigated.

A mid-infrared oscillator FEL has been commissioned at the Fritz Haber Institute. The accelerator consists of a thermionic gridded gun, a subharmonic buncher, and two S-band standing-wave copper structures. It provides a final electron energy adjustable from 15 to 50 MeV, low longitudinal (< 50 keV ps) and transverse emittance (< 20 πmm mrad), at more than 200 pC bunch charge with a micro-pulse repetition rate of 1 GHz and a macro-pulse length of up to 15 µs. Pulsed radiation with up to 100 mJ macro-pulse energy at about 0.5% FWHM bandwidth is routinely produced in the wavelength range from 4 to 48 µm. A characterization of the FEL performance in terms of pulse energy, bandwidth, and micro-pulse shape of the IR radiation is given. In addition, selected user results are presented. These include, for instance, spectroscopy of bio-molecules (peptides and small proteins) either conformer selected by ion mobility spectrometry or embedded in superfluid helium nano-droplets at 0.4 K, as well as vibrational spectroscopy of mass-selected metal-oxide clusters and protonated water clusters in the gas phase.

The ELBE center for high power radiation sources is the largest user facility in the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden- Rossendorf. The facility is based on a 36 MeV superconducting RF Linac which can be operated up to 1.6 mA in cw mode. The electron beam is used to generate secondary radiation, such as infrared light (Free Electron Lasers), coherent THz radiation, MeV-Bremsstrahlung, fast neutrons and positrons for a wide range of basic research like semiconductor physics, nuclear astrophysics and radio biological investigations. Two high power laser systems (500 TW Ti:Sa laser, 2 PW diode pumped laser) are under construction for laser acceleration experiments and X-ray generation by Thomson scattering. The FELs are in operation since 2004 (mid-IR FEL, 4-22μm) and 2006 (far-IF FEL, 20-250μm). The fundamental features of the ELBE IR FELs, the FEL instrumentation and advanced beam diagnostics for the photon beam are described. During ten years of user operation experiences and statistical data were collected.

After the formidable results of X-ray 4th generation light sources based on free electron lasers around the world, a new revolutionary step is undergoing to extend the FEL performance from the present few hundred Hz to MHz-class repetition rates. In such facilities, temporally equi-spaced pulses will allow for a wide range of previously non-accessible experiments. The Advanced Photo-injector EXperiment (APEX) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), is devoted to test the capability of a novel scheme electron source, the VHF-Gun, to generate the required electron beam brightness at MHz repetition rates. In linac-based FELs, the ultimate performance in terms of brightness is defined at the injector, and in particular, cathodes play a major role in the game. Part of the APEX program consists in testing high quantum efficiency photocathodes capable to operate at the conditions required by such challenging machines. Results and status of these tests at LBNL are presented.

Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUVL) is entering into high volume manufacturing (HVM) stage, with high average power (250W) EUV source from laser produced plasma at 13.5nm. Semiconductor industry road map indicates a scaling of the source technology more than 1kW average power by high repetition rate FEL. This paper discusses on the lowest risk approach to construct a prototype based on superconducting linac and normal conducting undulator, to demonstrate a high average power 13.5nm FEL equipped with optimized optical components and solid state lasers, to study FEL application in EUV lithography.

FERMI is the FEL-based light source in operation for external users since 2011 at the Elettra Research Center in Trieste, Italy. FERMI@Elettra is the name of the project for the construction and commissioning of this source. The design strategies adopted in the project had to consider the extremely close presence and the routine operation for users of the synchrotron–based source Elettra. There are more than 350 magnets and coils distributed along the linear accelerator, the two chains of undulators and the electron beam dump. Almost each magnetic element requires a dedicated DC power supply. Magnets, power supplies, and the connecting cables constitute a system, strongly interconnected with the remote control system, the machine and personnel safety system, and the infrastructure. All this has to fulfill the requirements from the particle physics specialists. We adopted a “systemic” approach in the design of new magnets and the re-use of the old ones, as well as the choice and the design of the associated power supplies. The commissioning of the systems started early 2010 and almost all magnet power supplies are in operation since then. During these 5 years, we introduced few minor upgrades and patches while the adopted solutions proved their soundness in terms of performance and reliability, causing very little downtime to the FERMI operations.

Sub-picosecond, high-brightness electron bunch trains are routinely produced at SPARC-LAB via the velocity bunching technique. Such bunch trains can be used to drive multi-color Free Electron Lasers (FELs) and plasma wake field accelerators. In this paper we present recent results at SPARC-LAB on the generation of such beams, highlighting the key points of our scheme. We will discuss also the on-going machine upgrades to allow driving FELs with plasma accelerated beams or with short electron pulses at an increased energy.

The European X-Ray Free-Electron-Laser facility requires diagnostics of its x-ray photon beam. Besides other diagnostic components, imaging stations will be employed for the characterisation of beam properties like position, profile, and pointing, before and after different types of mirrors, slits and monochromators. In combination with soft x-ray grating monochromators or other dispersive devices, imagers can also deliver spectral information. The imagers will usually absorb the beam (invasive devices), however, for some applications they will be partially transmissive to allow for beam pointing monitoring together with a second imaging unit further downstream. For the first commissioning 25 diagnostic imagers are planned at various positions in the photon beam tunnels. Further similar devices are under development for monitoring the beam properties at the experimental stations. The design of theses imaging stations will be described. Initial testing has started and the optimization of some components will be reported. The main components of these imaging stations are: retractable scintillators for conversion of x-rays to visible light, mirrors, optics and CCD / CMOS cameras for image recording, an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber, and the associated control electronics and software. Scintillators and mirrors will be the only components in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Performance characteristics are addressed, especially mechanical stability, spatial resolution, signal-to-noise properties, and radiation hardness. The challenge in the design is to deal with a wide range of beam properties: photon energies from 0.26 – 25 keV, beam sizes from several 100 μm to several mm, large beam position shifts of up to 120 mm, pulse durations of 10 fs and pulse energies up to 10 mJ which may destroy materials by a single pulse.

SwissFEL is aiming to produce X-ray pulses from 30 fs down to the attosecond time scale. This requires the compression of the several picosecond long electron bunches produced by a photo-injector to sub-fs level. To achieve this, 40fs accurate injection of the electron bunches into the main linear accelerator is necessary. Therefore high timing accuracy is required from the drive laser of the electron gun. Furthermore fs scan capability is foreseen for the experimental stations of the FEL. The ultra-short pulse pump-probe lasers therefore need to exhibit outstanding, below 10fs short term jitter relative to the X-rays. Timing tools for both the electron gun laser and for the experiments are developed. The former is based on electro-optical modulation of the optical reference at 1560nm by a signal produced from the gun laser at 260nm, a concept similar to beam arrival monitors in the linear accelerator, with an expected resolution below 20fs. The latter will use spectrally resolved cross-correlation technique to determine relative jitter between the optical reference and the laser used at the experiments at 800nm, with fs resolution. These systems will be complemented by electron and X-ray timing tools. In this paper we present the general concept for the laser arrival time measurement and correction, with first results obtained on a Ti:sapphire chirped pulse amplifier system. Shot to shot, short term jitter and long term timing drift measurements are presented, with discussion on the sources of the noise. Plans for the feedback stabilization and the resolution and limitation of the systems are also covered.

Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL) is a research facility currently under construction. It will provide ultra-bright (assuming 1 X 10¹² photons/pulse at 12.4 keV) and ultra-short (10-60 femtosecond) X-ray pulses. The CXI (Coherent X-ray Imaging) end-station, which will be constructed for hard X-ray beamline at the PAL-XFEL, is designed to deliver brilliant hard x-rays (2-20 keV) and to measure diffraction signals with forward scattering geometry, mainly. Not only will it offer imaging studies of biological, chemical and physical samples by the “diffract-before-destroy” technique, but will also be helpful in high field hard x-ray physics and material science. The scientific programs are currently aimed at serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) for macromolecular systems and coherent diffraction imaging for bio specimens and nano structures etc. In this paper, we describe the details of the beamline layout, X-ray focusing optics (Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror and Beryllium CRLs) and sample delivery system (liquid jet/LCP sample injector, fixed target system) that will be installed at the CXI beamline.

The results of experimental and theoretical modeling of multistage Raman conversion in compressed hydrogen with a buffer gas under using the lasing of neodymium-crystalline mediums to obtain the seed radiation for CO₂ power amplifier in the double-pulse and bispectral primary laser while maintaining efficiency of LPP EUV source are presented. This scheme allows as significantly decrease level of pumping consumption and tune a delay time up to 820 ns between a weak power (initiating a plasma cloud) and main power pulses irradiated the converter target. The lasing intensity in the focal spots was 0.2 GW/cm² and 5TW/cm² respectively for wavelengths of 1.064 μm and 9.2 μm.