Search Results (4 total)

It is widely believed that harmonics are suppressed in helical wigglers. However, linear harmonic generation (LHG) occurs by an azimuthal resonance that excites circularly polarized, off-axis waves, where the hth harmonic varies as exp⁡(ihθ). Nonlinear harmonic generation (NHG) is driven by bunching at the fundamental and has different properites from LHG. While NHG has been studied in planar wigglers, there has been no analysis of NHG in helical wigglers. The 3D simulation code medusa has been modified for this purpose, and it is shown that NHG is substantial in helical wigglers and that the even and odd harmonics have comparable intensities.

Nonlinear harmonic generation can be a very useful and important phenomenon for single-pass free-electron lasers (FELs) operating in the high-gain regime. Strong bunching at the fundamental wavelength and its associated higher harmonic content allow significant radiation at shorter wavelengths to be emitted without serious effects upon the output power at the fundamental. Here, we analyze the relative sensitivities to beam quality variations of the output fundamental and harmonic powers for a visible-wavelength FEL operating in the high-gain regime.

We report on an experimental investigation characterizing the output of a high-gain harmonic-generation (HGHG) free-electron laser (FEL) at saturation. A seed CO₂ laser at a wavelength of 10.6 μm was used to generate amplified FEL output at 5.3 μm. Measurement of the frequency spectrum, pulse duration, and correlation length of the 5.3 μm output verified that the light is longitudinally coherent. Investigation of the electron energy distribution and output harmonic energies provides evidence for saturated HGHG FEL operation.

Experimental evidence for self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) at 530 nm is reported. The measurements were made at the low-energy undulator test line facility at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. The experimental setup and details of the experimental results are presented, as well as preliminary analysis. This experiment extends to shorter wavelengths the operational knowledge of a linac-based SASE free-electron laser and explicitly shows the predicted exponential growth in intensity of the optical pulse as a function of length along the undulator.