Speedy electrons for brilliant laser light: Research paves the way for compact, inexpensive free-electron lasers

Extremely short, intense light flashes are in high demand to investigate atoms, molecules and new materials. Free-electron lasers produce these flashes.

By Simon Schmitt, Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Add as preferred source In the undulator, the electron beam from a compact laser-plasma accelerator interacts with a laser pulse.

Credit: HZDR/Blaurock Extremely short, intense light flashes are in high demand to investigate atoms, molecules and new materials. Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the Synchrotron SOLEIL near Paris have taken a crucial step along this path: For the first time, they managed to operate a laser-plasma FEL stably and reproducibly in the so-called high-gain regime, an operating.

The work is published in the journal Physical Review Letters. They generated ultraviolet light flashes at a wavelength of 272 nanometers with high pulse energy.

This is significant progress in comparison with the results we published in 2023," Irman adds. So far, large-scale accelerators have been required to drive electrons to the necessary energy, accelerators that can be up to approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long.

Thanks to the well-controlled electron beam, we were able to generate intense ultraviolet light flashes in a stable and reproducible manner using our undulator.

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