Professor Simon Hooker

Abstract:

A method for producing non-uniformly spaced (chirped) trains of ultrafast pulses is demonstrated, using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF). Programmable pulse trains of this type may find applications in quasi-phase matching of high-harmonic generation. © 2009 Optical Society of America.

Abstract:

Synchrotrons and free-electron lasers are the most powerful sources of X-ray radiation. They constitute invaluable tools for a broad range of research 1 ; however, their dependence on large-scale radiofrequency electron accelerators means that only a few of these sources exist worldwide. Laser-driven plasma-wave ccelerators 2-10 provide markedly increased accelerating fields and hence offer the potential to shrink the size and cost of these X-ray sources to the niversity-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 undulator and a 1.5-cm-long accelerator delivering stable electron beams 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 lenses 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. © 2009 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

Recent progress in Laser Plasma Accelerators has demonstrated the possibility of generating GeV electron bunches with very interesting beam qualities. It is now conceivable that the further development of such devices could generate beams with emittance, energy spread and peak current suitable for FEL operation in the XUV range with relatively short undulator trains. In this context the OPALS project aims at the construction of a XUV radiation source, driven by a Laser Plasma Accelerator, capable of generating ultrashort fs XUV pulses. Such a source is small enough to be hosted in an academic or industrial institution and could therefore have a major impact on time-resolved science.