GSI, Darmstadt
NSCL, East Lansing, Michigan
Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Sources (ECRIS) are increasingly used as ion source for different types of accelerator because of their high current densities for highly charged ions. To investigate the ion beam quality, normally delivered to the RFQ of the high charge state injector at GSI, we had the chance to install a viewing target close to the position of ion beam injection into the RFQ. The profile visible on the viewing target could be recorded through a regular glass window by a simple camera outside the vacuum. The RFQ itself has been removed for these measurements. We have found a highly structured ion beam distribution at that position. These structures, already caused by the hexapolar field within the ion source have already been observed directly behind the extraction. They are transported through the beam line without becoming homogeneous, which indicates a high degree of space charge compensation for that cw-beam. If the full beam line is mastered by the dipole, all charge states show similar ion beam distribution on the target for a given extraction voltage. This is also a hint, that the structures have been produced within the source already.
Uni HH, Hamburg
PSI, Villigen
Westdeutsches Protonentherapiezentrum, Essen
DESY, Hamburg
sFLASH is a seeded FEL experiment at DESY, which uses a 38nm high harmonic gain (HHG)-based XUV-beam laser in tandem with FLASH electron bunches at the entrance of a 10m variable-gap undulator. The temporal overlap between the electron and HHG beams is critical to the seeding process. Use of a 3rd harmonic accelerating module provides a high current electron beam (at the kA level) with ~ 600fs FWHM bunch duration. The length of the HHG laser pulse will be ~30fs FWHM. The desired overlap is achieved in steps. First is the synchronization of the HHG drive laser (Ti: Sapphire, 800nm) and the incoherent spontaneous radiation from an upstream undulator. Next, the IFEL-modulated electron bunch will pass through a dispersive section, producing a density modulation in the beam. This in turn yields emission of coherent radiation from a downstream undulator or transition radiation screen when the longitudinal overlap of the two beams is achieved. The coherently enhanced light emitted will be then spectrally analyzed. The experimental layout, simulation results of generation and transport of both light pulses, and preliminary measurements are presented.
DESY, Hamburg
Uni HH, Hamburg
The free-electron laser user facility FLASH at DESY, Germany has been upgraded. The upgrade started in autumn 2009 after almost 2 years of a very successful second user period. The beam energy is increased to 1.2 GeV by installing a 7th superconducting accelerating module. The new module is a prototype for the European XFEL. Among many other upgrades, 3rd harmonic superconducting RF cavities are installed in the injector. The main purpose is to flatten and - to a certain extend - to shape the longitudinal electron beam phase space improving the dynamics behavior of the beam. The seeding experiment sFLASH is being commissioned, an important step forward to establish seeded FEL radiation for user experiments. After the ongoing commissioning, the 3rd user period will start this summer. In many aspects FLASH will be an FEL with a new quality of performance: a wavelength approaching the carbon edge and the water window, tunable pulse width, and with thousands of pulses per second. This report summarizes the recently finished upgrade of FLASH and reports on the results of the ongoing commissioning and the expected performance as a free electron laser user facility.
DESY, Hamburg
Friedrich Schiller Universität, Jena
Uni HH, Hamburg
The performance of fourth generation light sources is of interest in many fields in nature science. Different seeding schemes for FELs are under investigation to improve timing stability, pulse shape and spectrum of the amplified XUV or X-ray pulses. One of the most promising schemes is direct seeding by high-harmonic generation (HHG) in gas. A seeded free electron laser with a tuneable wavelength range from 10 to 40nm and a bunch frequency of up to 100 kHz (1 MHz upgraded), as proposed for FLASH II (collaboration HZB/DESY), makes high demands on the HHG seed source concerning conversion efficiency and stability. However, the most challenging task is the conception of a laser system with a repetition rate of 100 kHz (1 MHz upgraded). The key parameters for this laser amplifier system are pulse energies of 1-2mJ and sub-10fs pulse duration. We report on the development status of the required laser system for the seed source and give an overview of first concepts for the HHG target setup which can comply with the requirements of a new seeded FEL at DESY.
DESY, Hamburg
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Elektronen-Speicherring BESSY II, Berlin
Uni HH, Hamburg
FLASH has been a user facility since 2005, delivering radiation in the wavelength range between 7 and 47 nm using the SASE principle. In order to increase user beam time and improve the radiation properties delivered to users, a major extension of the user facility called FLASH II has been proposed by DESY in collaboration with the HZB, which is a seeded FEL over the parameter range of FLASH. As logical continuation, the HHG development program started with sFLASH, will result in direct seeding. Because in the foreseeable future there will probably not be HHG seed lasers available at high repetition rates down to wavelengths of 4 nm, a cascaded HGHG scheme will be used to produce short wavelengths. After a first design report, the project now enters its preparation phase until the decision for funding will be taken. During this time, the FLASH beam parameters after the present upgrade 2009/2010 will be characterized and the present design will be re-evaluated and adjusted. In addition, complete start-to-end simulations will complete the simulations which have been performed so far, including a complete design of the extraction area.
Uni HH, Hamburg
DESY, Hamburg
PSI, Villigen
DELTA, Dortmund
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Elektronen-Speicherring BESSY II, Berlin
Recently, the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) at DESY has been upgraded considerably. Besides increasing the maximum energy to about 1.2 GeV and installation of a third harmonic rf cavity linearizing the longitudinal phase space distribution of the electron bunch, an FEL seeding experiment at wavelengths of about 35 nm has been installed. The goal is to establish direct FEL seeding employing coherent VUV pulses produced from a powerful drive laser by high-harmonic generation (HHG) in a gas cell. The project, called sFLASH, includes generation of the required HHG pulses, transporting it to the undulator entrance of a newly installed FEL-amplifier, controlling spatial, temporal and energy overlap with the electron bunches and setting up a pump-probe pilot experiment. Sophisticated diagnostics is installed to characterize both HHG and seeded FEL pulses, both in time and frequency domain. Compared to SASE-FEL pulses, almost perfect longitudinal coherence and improved synchronization possibilities for the user experiments are expected. In this paper the status of the experiment is presented.
Uni HH, Hamburg
DESY, Hamburg
ANL, Argonne
A seeded free-electron laser (FEL) experiment at VUV wavelengths, called sFLASH, is being prepared at the existing SASE FEL user facility FLASH. Seed pulses at wavelengths around 35 nm from high harmonic generation (HHG) will interact with the electron beam in sFLASH undulators upstream of the existing SASE undulator section. In this paper the tuning results and performance of the sFLASH undulators are presented.