Work

Longitudinal emittance improvement at an x-ray free-electron laser by shortening the injector laser pulse duration

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The performance of x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) strongly depends on the longitudinal emittance of the electron beam. We show that by reducing the injector drive laser pulse duration, the electron beam peak current can be increased by a factor of 2 or more, resulting in a significant improvement in longitudinal emittance. Comprehensive simulations and measurements carried out at SwissFEL confirm the expected trade-off of moderately higher transverse emittance. This simple approach can be readily adapted to other XFEL facilities.

Source: Physical Review Accelerators and Beams

DOI: 10.1103/lgqn-158t

Authors: Anastasiia Riabchikova, Philipp Dijkstal, Wenxiang Hu, Thomas G. Lucas, Sven Reiche, Eduard Prat

Institutions: Paul Scherrer Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, ETH Zurich

Language: English

Topic: Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers

Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: European Commission, H2020 European Research Council

Awards: Hidden, entangled and resonating orders, G4319685356