Staged Laser Wakefield Acceleration for Saturated Lasing of Bandwidth-Tunable Free-Electron Lasers from EUV to X-ray

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Xiao, Hengyuan, Li, Fei, Liu, Shuang, Jiang, Yuchen, Ding, Siqin, Song, Zhi, Hua, Jianfei, Lu, Wei
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Xiao, Hengyuan
Li, Fei
Liu, Shuang
Jiang, Yuchen
Ding, Siqin
Song, Zhi
Hua, Jianfei
Lu, Wei
author_facet Xiao, Hengyuan
Li, Fei
Liu, Shuang
Jiang, Yuchen
Ding, Siqin
Song, Zhi
Hua, Jianfei
Lu, Wei
contents Free-electron lasers (FELs) provide a revolutionary tool for capturing the structure and dynamics of matter in real time at the atomic scale. The size and cost of FELs can be substantially reduced by using laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), which offers acceleration gradients orders of magnitude beyond radiofrequency technology, producing multi-GeV electron beams within tens of centimeters. This compactness opens the possibility of integrating multiple operating modes - from the EUV to X-rays including broadband operation - into one facility. Realizing this vision, however, faces key challenges: current LWFA bunches are too short to sustain sufficient radiation slippage, limiting FEL pulse energy at EUV wavelengths, while the large energy spread and emittance make X-ray lasing even more demanding. Here we present a LWFA-driven FEL scheme that addresses these challenges, enabling multi-mode operation spanning different wavelengths and bandwidths within a single facility. The scheme employs staged acceleration to reach multi-GeV energies while preserving beam quality, combined with a dual-chicane beamline that stretches the bunch to mitigate the radiation slippage for EUV FEL and tailors the energy chirp for diverse FEL bandwidth modes. Simulations demonstrate that the scheme can generate high-quality electron beams with energies up to 7 GeV and tunable energy chirp, enabling both FEL saturation from the EUV to X-ray wavelengths and large bandwidth operation with a bandwidth of up to 11%. This work provides a roadmap for compact, multi-mode FELs based on plasma acceleration, and the high-energy, high-quality beams achieved also point toward compact injectors for next-generation storage-ring light sources.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_28214
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Staged Laser Wakefield Acceleration for Saturated Lasing of Bandwidth-Tunable Free-Electron Lasers from EUV to X-ray
Xiao, Hengyuan
Li, Fei
Liu, Shuang
Jiang, Yuchen
Ding, Siqin
Song, Zhi
Hua, Jianfei
Lu, Wei
Accelerator Physics
Free-electron lasers (FELs) provide a revolutionary tool for capturing the structure and dynamics of matter in real time at the atomic scale. The size and cost of FELs can be substantially reduced by using laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), which offers acceleration gradients orders of magnitude beyond radiofrequency technology, producing multi-GeV electron beams within tens of centimeters. This compactness opens the possibility of integrating multiple operating modes - from the EUV to X-rays including broadband operation - into one facility. Realizing this vision, however, faces key challenges: current LWFA bunches are too short to sustain sufficient radiation slippage, limiting FEL pulse energy at EUV wavelengths, while the large energy spread and emittance make X-ray lasing even more demanding. Here we present a LWFA-driven FEL scheme that addresses these challenges, enabling multi-mode operation spanning different wavelengths and bandwidths within a single facility. The scheme employs staged acceleration to reach multi-GeV energies while preserving beam quality, combined with a dual-chicane beamline that stretches the bunch to mitigate the radiation slippage for EUV FEL and tailors the energy chirp for diverse FEL bandwidth modes. Simulations demonstrate that the scheme can generate high-quality electron beams with energies up to 7 GeV and tunable energy chirp, enabling both FEL saturation from the EUV to X-ray wavelengths and large bandwidth operation with a bandwidth of up to 11%. This work provides a roadmap for compact, multi-mode FELs based on plasma acceleration, and the high-energy, high-quality beams achieved also point toward compact injectors for next-generation storage-ring light sources.
title Staged Laser Wakefield Acceleration for Saturated Lasing of Bandwidth-Tunable Free-Electron Lasers from EUV to X-ray
topic Accelerator Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.28214