High-intensity double-pulse X-ray free-electron laser

Area of Science:

• Photon science
• X-ray science
• Laser physics

Background:

• X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have revolutionized photon science with their high brightness.
• Tailoring X-ray pulse properties, like spectral and temporal structure, is crucial for experimental needs.
• Previous XFELs had limitations in peak power for advanced applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the generation of high-energy, short-duration two-color hard X-ray pulses.
• To demonstrate an improved peak power performance in X-ray free-electron lasers.
• To enable new scientific applications requiring intense and coherent X-ray sources.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) configuration driven by twin electron bunches.
• Employed the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) for generating the X-ray pulses.
• Achieved precise manipulation of the electron beam to tailor X-ray pulse characteristics.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated millijoule-level, few-femtosecond duration, two-color hard X-ray pulses.
• Achieved over an order of magnitude improvement in peak power compared to state-of-the-art two-color XFELs.
• Demonstrated unprecedented intensity and temporal coherence of the generated X-ray pulses.

Conclusions:

• The developed two-color hard X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) represents a significant advancement in photon science.
• This new capability opens doors for advanced experimental techniques, including X-ray pump/X-ray probe studies.
• Enables high-resolution imaging of complex biological samples using advanced techniques like multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion.