Wave optical description of the Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering optical undulator field and its application to the TWTS-FEL

We show that X-ray optical free-electron lasers (OFELs) can be realized using Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering (TWTS). In TWTS pulse front tilted laser pulses are scattered off relativistic electron bunches in a side-scattering geometry. The pulse-front tilt guarantees overlap between laser and ele...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2014-03, Vol.740, p.147-152
Main Authors: Steiniger, K., Widera, R., Pausch, R., Debus, A., Bussmann, M., Schramm, U.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amplification
Angles (geometry)
Camber
Dispersions
Lasers
Meters
Optical FEL
Thomson scattering
Three dimensional
Tilt
Traveling-wave
VLS grating
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Summary:We show that X-ray optical free-electron lasers (OFELs) can be realized using Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering (TWTS). In TWTS pulse front tilted laser pulses are scattered off relativistic electron bunches in a side-scattering geometry. The pulse-front tilt guarantees overlap between laser and electrons over distances in the meter range while both are traveling in different directions. An interaction distance of 90cm is obtained in a setup were 590MeV electrons scatter off a petawatt class laser incident under an angle of 4.5°. The amplification of the 1.5Å radiation saturates at the end of the interaction. In order to account for spatial and temporal dispersion introduced with the pulse front tilt, we develop an exact three-dimensional analytical description of TWTS pulses that can be used in three-dimensional simulations of the radiation amplification process. The wave-optical formulation of the TWTS pulse includes dispersion to all orders and provides a general description of laser pulses diffracted at VLS gratings. •Optical FELs can be realized with Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering (TWTS).•Pulse front tilted high-power lasers provide for optical undulators.•All dispersion effects can be controlled, resulting in long undulator lengths.•A fully analytical 3D, wave-optical description of TWTS is presented.
ISSN:0168-9002
1872-9576
DOI:10.1016/j.nima.2013.10.091