Letter abstract
Nature Physics 5, 826 - 829 (2009)
Published online: 27 September 2009 | doi:10.1038/nphys1404
Subject Categories: Optical physics | Particle physics | Plasma physics
Laser-driven soft-X-ray undulator source
Matthias Fuchs1,2, Raphael Weingartner1,2, Antonia Popp1, Zsuzsanna Major1,2, Stefan Becker2, Jens Osterhoff1,2, Isabella Cortrie2, Benno Zeitler2, Rainer Hörlein1,2, George D. Tsakiris1, Ulrich Schramm3, Tom P. Rowlands-Rees4, Simon M. Hooker4, Dietrich Habs1,2, Ferenc Krausz1,2, Stefan Karsch1,2 & Florian Grüner1,2
Synchrotrons and free-electron lasers are the most powerful sources of X-ray radiation. They constitute invaluable tools for a broad range of research1; however, their dependence on large-scale radiofrequency electron accelerators means that only a few of these sources exist worldwide. Laser-driven plasma-wave accelerators2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 provide markedly increased accelerating fields and hence offer the potential to shrink the size and cost of these X-ray sources to the university-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 undulator11 and a 1.5-cm-long accelerator delivering stable electron beams10 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 lenses11 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.
- Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Am Coulombwall 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
-
Forschungszentrum Dresden–Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstra
e 128, 01328 Dresden, Germany
- University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK
Correspondence to: Stefan Karsch1,2 e-mail: stefan.karsch@mpq.mpg.de
Correspondence to: Florian Grüner1,2 e-mail: florian.gruener@physik.uni-muenchen.de
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