X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) are powerful photon sources offering a wide wavelength range, subfemtosecond pulse duration, and high brightness. Most x-ray FELs are based on self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE). SASE-FEL radiation has excellent transverse but only limited longitudinal coherence, with power and spectral profiles consisting of multiple randomly distributed spikes. In this Letter, we present the first experimental demonstration of mode-locked SASE, which generates periodic trains of phase-locked subfemtosecond pulses, thus providing an x-ray analog of the optical frequency comb. Our approach combines the mode-coupled SASE scheme, where magnetic chicanes between the undulator modules of the FEL increase the coherence of the output radiation, and an external optical laser that restricts the FEL amplification to periodic and short regions of the electron bunch. The work relies on evidence in the frequency and time domains for photons and electrons, respectively, and will benefit investigations of ultrafast dynamics as well as coherent spectroscopy, and enable new types of experiments requiring phase-correlated x-ray pulses.

The H2020 CompactLight Project aims for the design of innovative, cost-effective, compact FEL facilities to generate higher peak brilliance radiation in the soft and hard X-ray. In this paper we assess via simulation studies the performance of a variably polarising APPLE-X afterburner positioned downstream of a helical Super Conducting Undulator (SCU). We discuss the optimum balance between the active SCU length and the afterburner length, considering the peak brilliance and pulse energy of the output. Our studies are complemented with analysis of the optical beam quality of the afterburner output to determine the design constraints of the photon beamline that delivers the FEL output to the experimental areas.

The CompactLight European consortium is designing a state-of-the-art x-ray free-electron laser driven by radiofrequency X-band technology. Rooted in experimental data on photo-injector performance in the recent literature, this study estimates analytically and numerically the performance of the CompactLight delivery system for bunch charges in the range 75–300 pC. Space-charge forces in the injector, linac transverse wakefield, and coherent synchrotron radiation in bunch compressors are all taken into account. The study confirms efficient lasing in the soft x-rays regime with pulse energies up to hundreds of microjoules at repetition rates as high as 1 kHz.

The H₂020 CompactLight Project (www. CompactLight.eu) aims at designing the next generation of compact X-rays Free-Electron Lasers, relying on very high gradient accelerating structures (X-band, 12 GHz), the most advanced concepts for bright electron photo injectors, and innovative compact short-period undulators. Compared to existing facilities, the proposed facility will benefit from a lower electron beam energy, due to the enhanced undulators performance, and will be significantly more compact, with a smaller footprint, as a consequence of the lower energy and the high-gradient X-band structures. In addition, the whole infrastructure will also have a lower electrical power demand as well as lower construction and running costs.

Research at modern light sources continues to improve our knowledge of the natural world, from the subtle workings of life to matter under extreme conditions. Free-electron lasers, for instance, have enabled the characterization of biomolecular structures with sub-ångström spatial resolution, and paved the way to controlling the molecular functions. On the other hand, attosecond temporal resolution is necessary to broaden our scope of the ultrafast world. Here we discuss attosecond pulse generation beyond present capabilities. Furthermore, we review three recently proposed methods of generating attosecond x-ray pulses. These novel methods exploit the coherent radiation of microbunched electrons in undulators and the tailoring of the emitted wavefronts. The computed pulse energy outperforms pre-existing technologies by three orders of magnitude. Specifically, our simulations of the proposed Soft X-ray Laser at MAX IV (Lund, Sweden) show that a pulse duration of 50-100 as and a pulse energy up to 5 [Formula: see text]J is feasible with the novel methods. In addition, the methods feature pulse shape control, enable the incorporation of orbital angular momentum, and can be used in combination with modern compact free-electron laser setups.

The production of intense attosecond light pulses is an active area in accelerator research, motivated by the stringent demands of attosecond science: (i) short pulse duration for resolving the fast dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules; (ii) high photon flux for probing and controlling such dynamics with high precision. While the free-electron laser (FEL) can deliver the highest brilliance amongst laboratory x-ray sources today, the pulse duration is typically 10-100 femtoseconds. A major obstacle to attaining attosecond duration is that the number of optical cycles increases with every undulator period. Hence, an FEL pulse typically contains tens or hundreds of cycles. In recent years, several novel concepts have been proposed to shift this paradigm, providing the basis for single-cycle pulses and paving the way towards high-brilliance attosecond light sources. This article gives an overview of these concepts.

A Virtual Accelerator (VA) has been developed to mimic the accelerators Versatile Electron Linear Accelerator (VELA) and Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications (CLARA). Its purpose is to test control room applications, run start-to-end simulations with multiple simulation codes, accurately reproduce measured beam properties, conduct ‘virtual experiments’and gain insight into ‘hidden beam parameters’. This paper gives an overview into the current progress in constructing this VA, detailing the areas of: developing a ‘Virtual EPICS’control system, using multiple simulation codes (both particle tracking and analytic), the development of a ‘Master Lattice’and the construction of a Python interface in which to run the VA.

CLARA is a new FEL test facility being developed at STFC Daresbury Laboratory in the UK, aiming to deliver advanced FEL capabilities including few-cycle pulse generation and Fourier transform limited output. Commissioning is underway on the front-end (photo-injector and first linac) while the later stages are being procured and assembled. Start-to-end (S2E) simulations of the full facility are presented, including optimisation of the accelerator setup to deliver the required properties of one of the electron beam modes specified for FEL operation. FEL simulations are performed using the Genesis 1.3 and Puffin codes and the results are compared.

Free-electron lasers (FELs) are currently enabling cutting edge research in chemistry, biology and physics. We use simulations to assess a new FEL capability that would add to the impressive repertoire of experiments made possible by the technology: a two-colour independent polarisation mode, which allows for light pulses with variable temporal separation, individually tuneable polarisation, and widely separated wavelength. Simulations are carried out using the broad bandwidth FEL code Puffin, the results of which are used to discuss the radiation properties of the output. This scheme is applicable to existing and proposed facilities which feature undulators with variable ellipticity and gap.

Ultrashort pulse operation in FELs is a highly desirable capability for imaging matter on ultrafast timescales. This paper presents a design study for a proof-of-principle demonstration of the mode-locked afterburner (ML-AB) scheme on the FEL test facility CLARA. A start-to-end simulation has been constructed using the time-dependent three-dimensional FEL code GENESIS 1.3 to evaluate the performance of the scheme. The ability to produce pulses of several femtoseconds in duration with peak powers of the order of 100 MW at 100 nm wavelength is predicted. Such pulses have duration of 2 fs (6 optical cycles), a factor of ~5 shorter than the FEL cooperation length. Potential routes for further optimisation and alternative operating modes are explored. CLARA AND ML-AB OVERVIEW CLARA is a FEL test facility currently under construction at Daresbury laboratory, designed to operate in the UV regime between 100-400nm [1]. It is planned to implement several novel accelerator and FEL schemes on CLARA as part of R&D for a potential upcoming UK XFEL [2]. The mode-locked afterburner (ML-AB) is one such scheme, designed as a potential source of few-cycle photon pulse trains of high power [3]. The scheme has three main sections, as seen in Fig. 1. It operates by inducing an energy modulation in the preliminary “modulator” section, which then creates periodic regions of strong bunching along the main “amplifier” radiator section. These strongly bunched regions are then mapped to a fine short pulse train structure using an additional “afterburner” section consisting of short radiator modules separated by chicanes. Since the requirements of the amplifier section are generic, it is hoped that this afterburner section could be installed on the end of existing FELs to add short-pulse capability to existing facilities. At the current stage of development it is necessary to identify certain key parameters, such as the required seed laser power for the modulator stage, as well as to construct a more robust model to test the feasibility and tolerances of the scheme. SIMULATION AND OPTIMISATION Simulations were performed using the time-dependent 3D FEL code GENESIS 1.3 [4]. The three different sections of the scheme were each modelled separately, and the particle and field distributions then imported into the next section. A short Python script was used to automate the start-to-end process. The parameters used in the simulation are seen in Table 1. These now represent outdated parameters for the CLARA lattice, but since the requirements of the amplifier section are generic the results presented hold as a proof of concept for the scheme. Table 1: Parameters Used for Simulation

A review of some methods that have recently been proposed to improve the temporal coherence of SASE output is presented. These methods do not require any external laser seed field, or the use of the so-called self-seeding methods, where the SASE radiation is optically filtered and improved at an early stage of the interaction before re-injection and amplification to saturation. By using methods that introduce an additional relative propagation between the electron beam and the radiation field, the localised collective interaction, which leads to the formation of the ‘spiking’ associated with normal SASE output, is removed. The result is output pulses which are close to the fourier transform limit without the need for any external seeds or intermediate optics. We acknowledge STFC MoA 4132361; ARCHIE-WeSt HPC, EPSRC grant EP/K000586/1; John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC) on JUROPA at Julich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), under project HHH20.

We present recent developments in the accelerator design of CLARA (Compact Linear Accelerator for Research and Applications), the proposed UK FEL test facility at Daresbury Laboratory. Updates on the electron beam simulations and code comparisons including wakefields are described. Simulations of the effects of geometric wakefields in the small-aperture FEL undulator are shown, as well as further simulations on potential FEL experiments using chirped beams. We also present the results of simulations on post-FEL diagnostics.

The short wavelength and high peak power of the present generation of free-electron lasers (FELs) opens the possibility of ultra-short pulses even surpassing the present (tens to hundreds of attoseconds) capabilities of other light sources - but only if x-ray FELs can be made to generate pulses consisting of just a few optical cycles. For hard x-ray operation (~0.1nm), this corresponds to durations of approximately a single attosecond, and below into the zeptosecond scale. This talk will describe a novel method to generate trains of few-cycle pulses, at GW peak powers, from existing x-ray FEL facilities by using a relatively short 'afterburner'. Such pulses would enhance research opportunity in atomic dynamics and push capability towards the investigation of electronic-nuclear and nuclear dynamics. The corresponding multi-colour spectral output, with a bandwidth envelope increased by up to two orders of magnitudes over SASE, also has potential applications.

A review is presented of some of the methods and their origins that have recently been proposed to improve the temporal coherence of SASE output. These methods do not require any external laser seed field, or the use of the socalled self-seeding methods, where the SASE radiation is optically filtered and improved at an early stage of the interaction before re-injection and amplification to saturation. By using methods that introduce an additional relative propagation between the electron beam and the radiation field, the localised collective interaction, which leads to the formation of the ‘spiking’associated with normal SASE output, is removed. The result is output pulses which are close to the fourier transform limit without the need for any external seeds or intermediate optics.

The crossed-planar undulator is a promising scheme for full polarization control in x-ray FELs. For SASE FELs, it has been shown a maximum degree of circular polarization of about 80% is achievable at fundamental wavelength just before saturation. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of a crossed undulator for a seeded x-ray FEL. The degree of circular polarization for both the fundamental and the harmonic radiation are considered. Simulations with realistic beam distributions show that a degree of circular polarization of over 90% and 80% is obtainable at the fundamental and 2nd harmonic frequencies, respectively.

In this paper we present an overview of current and proposed FEL developments at STFC Daresbury Laboratory in the UK. We discuss progress on the ALICE IR-FEL since first lasing in October 2010, covering the optimisation of the FEL performance, progress on the demonstration of a single shot cross correlation experiment and the results obtained so far with a Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy beamline. We discuss a proposal for a 250 MeV single pass FEL test facility named CLARA to be built at Daresbury and dedicated to research for future light source applications. Finally we present a brief overview of other recent research highlights.

Understanding the influence of exposure of biological systems to THz radiation is becoming increasingly important. There is some evidence to suggest that THz radiation can influence important activities within mammalian cells. This study evaluated the influence of the high peak power, low average power THz radiation produced by the ALICE (Daresbury Laboratory, UK) synchrotron source on human epithelial and embryonic stem cells. The cells were maintained under standard tissue culture conditions, during which the THz radiation was delivered directly into the incubator for various exposure times. The influence of the THz radiation on cell morphology, attachment, proliferation and differentiation was evaluated. The study demonstrated that there was no difference in any of these parameters between irradiated and control cell cultures. It is suggested that under these conditions the cells are capable of compensating for any effects caused by exposure to THz radiation with the peak powers levels employed in these studies.

CLARA will be a novel FEL test facility focussed on the generation of ultra-short photon pulses with extreme levels of stability and synchronisation. The principal aim is to experimentally demonstrate that sub-cooperation length pulse generation with FELs is viable, and to compare the various schemes being championed. The results will translate directly to existing and future X-ray FELs, enabling them to generate attosecond pulses, thereby extending their science capabilities. This paper gives an overview of the motivation for CLARA, describes the facility design (reported in detail in the recently published Conceptual Design Report [1]) and proposed operating modes and summarises the proposed areas of FEL research.