Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator

Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator
Free-electron lasers generate high-brilliance coherent radiation at
wavelengths spanning from the infrared to the X-ray domains. The recent
development of short-wavelength seeded free-electron lasers now allows
for unprecedented levels of control on longitudinal coherence, opening
new scientific avenues such as ultra-fast dynamics on complex systems
and X-ray nonlinear optics. Although those devices rely on state-of-the-art
large-scale accelerators, advancements on laser-plasma accelerators, which
harness gigavolt-per-centimetre accelerating fields, showcase a promising
technology as compact drivers for free-electron lasers. Using such
footprint-reduced accelerators, exponential amplification of a shot-noise
type of radiation in a self-amplified spontaneous emission configuration
was recently achieved. However, employing this compact approach for the
delivery of temporally coherent pulses in a controlled manner has remained
a major challenge. Here we present the experimental demonstration
of a laser-plasma accelerator-driven free-electron laser in a seeded
configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength is accomplished.
Furthermore, the appearance of interference fringes, resulting from the
interaction between the phase-locked emitted radiation and the seed,
confirms longitudinal coherence. Building on our scientific achievements,
we anticipate a navigable pathway to extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths,
paving the way towards smaller-scale free-electron lasers, unique tools for a
multitude of applications in industry, laboratories and universities.