Realizing all optical free-electron lasers with Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering


Realizing all optical free-electron lasers with Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering

Steiniger, K.; Bussmann, M.; Debus, A.; Irman, A.; Jochmann, A.; Pausch, R.; Roeser, F.; Schramm, U.

Optical free-electron lasers (OFELs) from the ultra violet to x-ray range can be realized with Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering (TWTS). This becomes possible in TWTS by increasing the photon scattering efficiency of standard Thomson scattering geometries more than one order of magnitude by changing the interaction geometry. In TWTS a side-scattering geometry is used where the laser and electron propagation directions enclose the interaction angle $\phi$. Together with a tilt of the laser pulse front the interaction distance is increased in TWTS beyond the limits of head-on Thomson scattering. TWTS implements dispersion control of the laser pulse to compensate for variations of the optical undulator period originating from the pulse-front tilt. Altogether, the combination of side-scattering, pulse-front tilt and dispersion control in TWTS allows for meter-scale interaction distances in which the electron beam becomes microbunched and OFEL operation is achieved. These TWTS OFELs provide transverse coherence as well as brilliances an order of magnitude enhanced over standard head-on Thomson scattering geometries.
We present the scaling laws of TWTS OFELs derived from a fully analytic theory of the electron laser interaction in TWTS scattering geometries. TWTS OFELs can be realized in an all-optical setup with a meter-scale footprint using laser wakefield accelerated electrons featuring both ultralow transverse emittances and large energy spreads.

Keywords: Traveling-Wave; Thomson scattering; X-ray; FEL

  • Poster
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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-21977
Publ.-Id: 21977