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Now showing 1 - 10 of 39
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    XUV double-pulses with femtosecond to 650 ps separation from a multilayer-mirror-based split-and-delay unit at FLASH
    (Chester : IUCr, 2018-8-3) Sauppe, Mario; Rompotis, Dimitrios; Erk, Benjamin; Bari, Sadia; Bischoff, Tobias; Boll, Rebecca; Bomme, Cédric; Bostedt, Christoph; Dörner, Simon; Düsterer, Stefan; Feigl, Torsten; Flückiger, Leonie; Gorkhover, Tais; Kolatzki, Katharina; Langbehn, Bruno; Monserud, Nils; Müller, Erland; Müller, Jan P.; Passow, Christopher; Ramm, Daniel; Rolles, Daniel; Schubert, Kaja; Schwob, Lucas; Senfftleben, Björn; Treusch, Rolf; Ulmer, Anatoli; Weigelt, Holger; Zimbalski, Jannis; Zimmermann, Julian; Möller, Thomas; Rupp, Daniela
    Extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and X-ray free-electron lasers enable new scientific opportunities. Their ultra-intense coherent femtosecond pulses give unprecedented access to the structure of undepositable nanoscale objects and to transient states of highly excited matter. In order to probe the ultrafast complex light-induced dynamics on the relevant time scales, the multi-purpose end-station CAMP at the free-electron laser FLASH has been complemented by the novel multilayer-mirror-based split-and-delay unit DESC (DElay Stage for CAMP) for time-resolved experiments. XUV double-pulses with delays adjustable from zero femtoseconds up to 650 picoseconds are generated by reflecting under near-normal incidence, exceeding the time range accessible with existing XUV split-and-delay units. Procedures to establish temporal and spatial overlap of the two pulses in CAMP are presented, with emphasis on the optimization of the spatial overlap at long time-delays via time-dependent features, for example in ion spectra of atomic clusters.
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    CAMP@FLASH: an end-station for imaging, electron- and ion-spectroscopy, and pump–probe experiments at the FLASH free-electron laser
    (Chester : IUCr, 2018-8-2) Erk, Benjamin; Müller, Jan P.; Bomme, Cédric; Boll, Rebecca; Brenner, Günter; Chapman, Henry N.; Correa, Jonathan; Düsterer, Stefan; Dziarzhytski, Siarhei; Eisebitt, Stefan; Graafsma, Heinz; Grunewald, Sören; Gumprecht, Lars; Hartmann, Robert; Hauser, Günter; Keitel, Barbara; von Korff Schmising, Clemens; Kuhlmann, Marion; Manschwetus, Bastian; Mercadier, Laurent; Müller, Erland; Passow, Christopher; Plönjes, Elke; Ramm, Daniel; Rompotis, Dimitrios; Rudenko, Artem; Rupp, Daniela; Sauppe, Mario; Siewert, Frank; Schlosser, Dieter; Strüder, Lothar; Swiderski, Angad; Techert, Simone; Tiedtke, Kai; Tilp, Thomas; Treusch, Rolf; Schlichting, Ilme; Ullrich, Joachim; Moshammer, Robert; Möller, Thomas; Rolles, Daniel
    The non-monochromatic beamline BL1 at the FLASH free-electron laser facility at DESY was upgraded with new transport and focusing optics, and a new permanent end-station, CAMP, was installed. This multi-purpose instrument is optimized for electron- and ion-spectroscopy, imaging and pump–probe experiments at free-electron lasers. It can be equipped with various electron- and ion-spectrometers, along with large-area single-photon-counting pnCCD X-ray detectors, thus enabling a wide range of experiments from atomic, molecular, and cluster physics to material and energy science, chemistry and biology. Here, an overview of the layout, the beam transport and focusing capabilities, and the experimental possibilities of this new end-station are presented, as well as results from its commissioning.
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    Generation of millijoule few-cycle pulses at 5 μm by indirect spectral shaping of the idler in an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier
    (Washington, DC : Soc., 2018) Bock, Martin; Grafenstein, Lorenz von; Griebner, Uwe; Elsaesser, Thomas
    Spectral pulse shaping in a high-intensity midwave-infrared (MWIR) optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) operating at 1 kHz repetition rate is reported. We successfully apply a MWIR spatial light modulator (SLM) for the generation of ultrashort idler pulses at 5 μm wavelength. Only bulk optics and active phase control of the 3.5 μm signal pulses via the SLM are employed for generating compressed idler pulses with a duration of 80 fs. The 80-fs pulse duration corresponds to less than five optical cycles at the central wavelength of 5.0 μm. The pulse energy amounts to 1.0 mJ, which translates into a peak power of 10 GW. The generated pulse parameters represent record values for high-intensity MWIR OPCPAs.
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    X-ray emission from stainless steel foils irradiated by femtosecond petawatt laser pulses
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018) Alkhimova, M.A.; Faenov, A.Ya.; Pikuz, T.A.; Skobelev, I.Yu.; Pikuz, S.A.; Nishiuchi, M.; Sakaki, H.; Pirozhkov, A.S.; Sagisaka, S.; Dover, N.P.; Kondo, Ko.; Ogura, K.; Fukuda, Y.; Kiriyama, H.; Esirkepov, T.; Bulanov, S V.; Andreev, A.; Kando, M.; Zhidkov, A.; Nishitani, K.; Miyahara, T.; Watanabe, Y.; Kodama, R.; Kondo, K.
    We report about nonlinear growth of x-ray emission intensity emitted from plasma generated by femtosecond petawatt laser pulses irradiating stainless steel foils. X-ray emission intensity increases as ∼ I 4.5 with laser intensity I on a target. High spectrally resolved x-ray emission from front and rear surfaces of 5 μm thickness stainless steel targets were obtained at the wavelength range 1.7-2.1 Å, for the first time in experiments at femtosecond petawatt laser facility J-KAREN-P. Total intensity of front x-ray spectra three times dominates to rear side spectra for maximum laser intensity I ≈ 3.21021 W/cm2. Growth of x-ray emission is mostly determined by contribution of bremsstrahlung radiation that allowed estimating bulk electron plasma temperature for various magnitude of laser intensity on target.
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    Looking inside the tunnelling barrier: II. Co- and counter-rotating electrons at the ‘tunnelling exit’
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018-08-03) Kaushal, Jivesh; Smirnova, Olga
    The initial conditions for electron trajectories at the exit from the tunnelling barrier are often used in strong field models, for example to bridge the first and the second steps of the three-step model celebrated in this issue. Since the analytical R-matrix theory does not rely on the three-step model or the concept of the tunnelling barrier in coordinate space, obtaining the initial conditions for electron trajectories at the barrier exit is, strictly speaking, not necessary to calculate standard observables. Not necessary, but possible—especially when motivated by the occasion of this issue. The opportunity to evaluate such initial conditions emerges as a corollary of analysing sub-barrier kinematics, which includes the interplay of laser and Coulomb fields on the sub-cycle scale (see the companion paper I). We apply our results to discuss the difference in such initial conditions for co- and counter-rotating electrons liberated during strong field ionisation. We derive quantum orbits and classical trajectories describing ionization dynamics of co- and counter-rotating electrons in long-range potentials.
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    Terahertz magnetic field enhancement in an asymmetric spiral metamaterial
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018-10-25) Polley, Debanjan; Hagström, Nanna Zhou; Schmising, Clemens von Korff; Eisebitt, Stefan; Bonetti, Stefano
    We use finite element simulations in both the frequency and the time-domain to study the terahertz resonance characteristics of a metamaterial (MM) comprising a spiral connected to a straight arm. The MM acts as a RLC circuit whose resonance frequency can be precisely tuned by varying the characteristic geometrical parameters of the spiral: inner and outer radius, width and number of turns. We provide a simple analytical model that uses these geometrical parameters as input to give accurate estimates of the resonance frequency. Finite element simulations show that linearly polarized terahertz radiation efficiently couples to the MM thanks to the straight arm, inducing a current in the spiral, which in turn induces a resonant magnetic field enhancement at the center of the spiral. We observe a large (approximately 40 times) and uniform (over an area of ∼10 μm2) enhancement of the magnetic field for narrowband terahertz radiation with frequency matching the resonance frequency of the MM. When a broadband, single-cycle terahertz pulse propagates towards the MM, the peak magnetic field of the resulting band-passed waveform still maintains a six-fold enhancement compared to the peak impinging field. Using existing laser-based terahertz sources, our MM design allows to generate magnetic fields of the order of 2 T over a time scale of several picoseconds, enabling the investigation of nonlinear ultrafast spin dynamics in table-top experiments. Furthermore, our MM can be implemented to generate intense near-field narrowband, multi-cycle electromagnetic fields to study generic ultrafast resonant terahertz dynamics in condensed matter.
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    Phase- and intensity-resolved measurements of above threshold ionization by few-cycle pulses
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018-06-11) Kübel, M.; Arbeiter, M.; Burger, C.; Kling, Nora G.; Pischke, T.; Moshammer, R.; Fennel, T.; Kling, M.F.; Bergues, B.
    We investigate the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) and intensity dependence of the longitudinal momentum distribution of photoelectrons resulting from above threshold ionization of argon by few-cycle laser pulses. The intensity of the pulses with a center wavelength of 750 nm is varied in a range between 0.7 × 1014 and . Our measurements reveal a prominent maximum in the CEP-dependent asymmetry at photoelectron energies of 2 U P (U P being the ponderomotive potential), that is persistent over the entire intensity range. Further local maxima are observed around 0.3 and 0.8 U P. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical results obtained by solving the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We show that for few-cycle pulses, the amplitude of the CEP-dependent asymmetry provides a reliable measure for the peak intensity on target. Moreover, the measured asymmetry amplitude exhibits an intensity-dependent interference structure at low photoelectron energy, which could be used to benchmark model potentials for complex atoms.
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    Characterization of self-modulated electron bunches in an argon plasma
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018) Gross, M.; Lishilin, O.; Loisch, G.; Boonpornprasert, P.; Chen, Y.; Engel, J.; Good, J.; Huck, H.; Isaev, I.; Krasilnikov, M.; Li, X.; Niemczyk, R.; Oppelt, A.; Qian, H.; Renier, Y.; Stephan, F.; Zhao, Q.; Brinkmann, R.; Martinez de la Ossa, A.; Osterhoff, J.; Grüner, F.J.; Mehrling, T.; Schroeder, C.B.; Will, I.
    The self-modulation instability is fundamental for the plasma wakefield acceleration experiment of the AWAKE (Advanced Wakefield Experiment) collaboration at CERN where this effect is used to generate proton bunches for the resonant excitation of high acceleration fields. Utilizing the availability of flexible electron beam shaping together with excellent diagnostics including an RF deflector, a supporting experiment was set up at the electron accelerator PITZ (Photo Injector Test facility at DESY, Zeuthen site), given that the underlying physics is the same. After demonstrating the effect [1] the next goal is to investigate in detail the self-modulation of long (with respect to the plasma wavelength) electron beams. In this contribution we describe parameter studies on self-modulation of a long electron bunch in an argon plasma. The plasma was generated with a discharge cell with densities in the 1013 cm-3 to 1015 cm-3 range. The plasma density was deduced from the plasma wavelength as indicated by the self-modulation period. Parameter scans were conducted with variable plasma density and electron bunch focusing.
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    43 W, 1.55 μm and 12.5 W, 3.1 μm dual-beam, sub-10 cycle, 100 kHz optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier
    (Washington, DC : Soc., 2018) Mero, Mark; Heiner, Zsuzsanna; Petrov, Valentin; Rottke, Horst; Branchi, Federico; Thomas, Gabrielle M.; Vrakking, Marc J. J.
    We present a 100 kHz optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) developed for strong-field attosecond physics and soft-x-ray transient absorption experiments. The system relies on noncollinear potassium titanyl arsenate booster OPCPAs and is pumped by a 244 W, 1.1 ps Yb:YAG Innoslab chirped pulse laser amplifier. Two optically synchronized infrared output beams are simultaneously available: a 430 μJ, 51 fs, carrier-envelope phase stable beam at 1.55 μm and an angular-dispersion-compensated, 125 μJ, 73 fs beam at 3.1 μm.
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    Attosecond streaking metrology with isolated nanotargets
    (Bristol : IOP Publ., 2018-01-05) Liu, Q.; Seiffert, L.; Trabattoni, A.; Castrovilli, M.C.; Galli, M.; Rupp, P.; Frassetto, F.; Poletto, L.; Nisoli, M.; Rühl, E.; Krausz, F.; Fennel, T.; Zherebtsov, S.; Calegari, F.; Kling, M.F.
    The development of attosecond metrology has enabled time-resolved studies on atoms, molecules, and (nanostructured) solids. Despite a wealth of theoretical work, attosecond experiments on isolated nanotargets, such as nanoparticles, clusters, and droplets have been lacking. Only recently, attosecond streaking metrology could be extended to isolated silica nanospheres, enabling real-time measurements of the inelastic scattering time in dielectric materials. Here, we revisit these experiments and describe the single-shot analysis of velocity-map images, which permits to evaluate the recorded number of electrons. Modeling of the recorded electron histograms allows deriving the irradiated nanoparticle statistics. Theoretically, we analyze the influence of the nanoparticle size on the field-induced delay, which is one of the terms contributing to the measured streaking delay. The obtained new insight into attosecond streaking experiments on nanoparticles is expected to guide wider implementation of the approach on other types of nanoparticles, clusters, and droplets.