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International audience; The fourth generation of synchrotron radiation sources, commonly referred to as the Free Electron Laser (FEL), provides an intense source of brilliant X-ray beams enabling the investigation of matter at the atomic scale with unprecedented time resolution. These sources require the use of conventional linear accelerators providing high electron beam performance. The achievement of chirped pulse amplification allowing lasers to be operated at the Terawatt range, opened the way for the Laser Plasma Acceleration (LPA) technique where high energy electron bunches with high current can be produced within a very short centimeter-scale distance. Such an advanced acceleration concept is of great interest to be qualified by an FEL application for compact X-ray light sources. We explore in this paper what the LPA specificities imply on the design of the undulator, part of the gain medium. First, the LPA concept and state-of-art are presented showing the different operation regimes and what electron beam parameters are likely to be achieved. The LPA scaling laws are discussed afterwards to better understand what laser or plasma parameters have to be adjusted in order to improve electron beam quality. The FEL is secondly discussed starting with the spontaneous emission, followed by the different FEL configurations, the electron beam transport to the undulator and finally the scaling laws and correction terms in the high gain case. Then, the different types of compact undulators that can be implemented for an LPA based FEL application are analyzed. Finally, examples of relevant experiments are reported by describing the transport beamline, presenting the spontaneous emission characteristics achieved so far and the future prospects.

European physical journal special topics 229(24), 3675 - 4284 (2020). doi:10.1140/epjst/e2020-000127-8, This report presents the conceptual design of a new European research infrastructure EuPRAXIA. The concept has been established over the last four years in a unique collaboration of 41 laboratories within a Horizon 2020 design study funded by the European Union. EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. It focuses on the development of electron accelerators and underlying technologies, their user communities, and the exploitation of existing accelerator infrastructures in Europe. EuPRAXIA has involved, amongst others, the international laser community and industry to build links and bridges with accelerator science — through realising synergies, identifying disruptive ideas, innovating, and fostering knowledge exchange. The Eu-PRAXIA project aims at the construction of an innovative electron accelerator using laser- and electron-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration that offers a significant reduction in size and possible savings in cost over current state-of-the-art radiofrequency-based accelerators. The foreseen electron energy range of one to five gigaelectronvolts (GeV) and its performance goals will enable versatile applications in various domains, e.g. as a compact free-electron laser (FEL), compact sources for medical imaging and positron generation, table-top test beams for particle detectors, as well as deeply penetrating X-ray and gamma-ray sources for material testing. EuPRAXIA is designed to be the required stepping stone to possible future plasma-based facilities, such as linear colliders at the high-energy physics (HEP) energy frontier. Consistent with a high-confidence approach, the project includes measures to retire risk by establishing scaled technology demonstrators. This report includes preliminary models for project implementation, cost and schedule that would allow operation of the full Eu-PRAXIA facility within 8—10 years., Published by Springer, Heidelberg

While synchrotron light facilities and Free Electron Lasers (FELs) are widely used for matter investigation, Laser Plasma Acceleration (LPA), delivering nowadays GeV electron beams in few centimeter accelerating distance, can be considered to drive undulator radiation and FEL. We report on the generation of undulator radiation on the COXINEL dedicated manipulation line designed for an FEL application. The LPA large divergence is handled with variable gradient permanent magnet quadrupoles and the high energy spread is reduced via a magnetic chicane. We evidence the undulator spatio-spectral signature on the first and second harmonics while measuring the radiation focused onto the entrance slit of a spectrometer equipped with a CDD camera. A good agreement is found between measurements and SRW simulations, using electron beam parameters in the undulator deduced from the measured initial electron beam parameters transported along the beamline. In addition, ray optics approach is compared to Fourier optics for the radiation propagation through optical elements.

International audience; Laser plasma acceleration (LPA) enables the generation of an up to several GeV electron beam with a short bunch length and high peak current within a centimeter scale. In view of undulator type light source applications, electron beam manipulation has to be applied. We report here on detailed electron beam transport for an LPA electron beam on the COXINEL test line, that consists of strong permanent quadrupoles to handle the electron beam divergence, a magnetic chicane to reduce the energy spread and a second set of quadrupoles for adjusting the focusing inside the undulator. After describing the measured LPA characteristics, we show that we can properly transport the electron beam along the line, thanks to several screens. We also illustrate the influence of the chromatic effects induced by the electron beam energy spread, both experimentally and numerically. We then study the sensitivity of the transport to the electron beam pointing and skewed quadrupolar components.

International audience; We report here on spontaneous undulator radiation and free electron laser calculations after a 10-m long transport line (COXINEL) using a Laser Plasma acceleration (LPA) source. The line enables the manipulation of the properties of the produced electron beams (energy spread, divergence, dispersion) in view of light source applications. The electron beam brightness and undulator radiation brilliance are addressed by an analytical approach enabling us to point out the influence of chromatic effects in the COXINEL case.

Undulator based synchrotron light sources and Free Electron Lasers (FELs) are valuable modern probes of matter with high temporal and spatial resolution. Laser Plasma Accelerators (LPAs), delivering GeV electron beams in few centimeters, are good candidates for future compact light sources. However the barriers set by the large energy spread, divergence and shot-to-shot fluctuations require a specific transport line, to shape the electron beam phase space for achieving ultrashort undulator synchrotron radiation suitable for users and even for achieving FEL amplification. Proof-of-principle LPA based undulator emission, with strong electron focusing or transport, does not yet exhibit the full specific radiation properties. We report on the generation of undulator radiation with an LPA beam based manipulation in a dedicated transport line with versatile properties. After evidencing the specific spatio-spectral signature, we tune the resonant wavelength within 200–300 nm by modification of the electron beam energy and the undulator field. We achieve a wavelength stability of 2.6%. We demonstrate that we can control the spatio-spectral purity and spectral brightness by reducing the energy range inside the chicane. We have also observed the second harmonic emission of the undulator.

Spontaneous undulator radiation emission, after the COXINEL line using a Laser Plasma acceleration (LPA) source, has been observed. The line enables to manipulate the electron beam phase space such as emittance, dispersion and energy spread along a 10 m long transport. The large divergence is handled at a very early stage to mitigate the chromatic emittance, using high gradient permanent magnet based quadrupoles mounted on translation tables. The operating energy is between 161-180 MeV focused in a 2-m long cryo-ready undulator with a period of 18 mm emitting light in the Ultra-Violet range. The spectral flux is characterized using a spectrometer. The wavelength is tuned by either changing the electron beam energy or by adjusting the undulator gap. The radiation pattern signature is illustrated alongside its dependence on the energy spread that is modified by introducing a slit in a magnetic chicane where a small relative bandwidth of 5% has been achieved.

The Free Electron Laser (FEL) application of Laser Plasma Acceleration (LPA) requires the handling of the energy spread and divergence. The COXINEL manipulation line, designed and built at SOLEIL for this purpose, consists of high gradient quadrupoles for divergence handling and a decompression chicane for energy sorting, enabling FEL amplification with baseline parameters. Installed at Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquee (LOA), it uses robust electrons generated and accelerated by ionization injection using a 30 TW laser. We report here on the work progress towards a FEL demonstration. The LPA measured electron beam characteristics deviates from the baseline reference case. After the installation of the equipment, the electron beam transport has first been optimized. The electron position and dispersion are independently adjusted. Then, undulator radiation has been measured. The spectral purity is controlled via the energy spread adjusted in the slit located in the chicane. FEL effect demonstration is within reach, with currently achieved performance on different LPA experiments.

Since the laser invention [1, 2], the advent of Free Electron Lasers (FEL) [3, 4] in the X-ray domain half a century later, has opened new areas for matter investigation with higher temporal resolution. In parallel, the development of laser plasma acceleration (LPA) [5] that delivers today several GeV beam acceleration [6] in a short distance appears also very promising. The qualification of the LPA for FEL application can thus be viewed as an important challenge [7]. Nevertheless, present LPA electron beam parameters (e. g. energy spread and beam divergence) do not meet conventional accelerator state-of-the-art performance and FEL application requires a specific beam handling. In such a prospect, the COXINEL beam manipulation line [8, 9] using variable permanent magnet quadrupoles for emittance growth mitigation and de-mixing chicane for the energy spread handling developed at SOLEIL has been installed for using electrons produced with an intense laser of Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquee (LOA). Strategies for controlling electron beam position and dispersion have been elaborated and demonstrated [10]. Finally, undulator spontaneous emission has been measured at the end of the line.

Small gap wigglers become more and more attractive to produce high photon fluxes in the hard X-ray photon range. They use magnet blocks of high magnetization which resists much better to heating (baking, synchrotron radiation) than in the past, produce high magnetic field with numerous periods and are very compact. They also are a very good alternative to superconducting technology which requires special infrastructure, heavy maintenance and is not running cost free. SOLEIL, operating presently at 2.75 GeV has designed and built an in-vacuum wiggler of 38 periods of 50 mm producing 2.1 T at a minimum gap of 5.5 mm to delivered photon beam between 20 keV and 50 keV. Already in operation, further improvements are presently in progress to push photons towards higher energy, in particular thanks to the operation at lower gap (4.5 mm). MAX IV and SOLEIL, in the frame of collaboration, ave built an upgraded version of the existing SOLEIL wiggler with the target to extend the spectral range at high energy (above 50 keV) but also at low energy (4 keV) with the same insertion device. The design of the existing magnetic system has been modified to reach 2.4 T at a minimum gap of 4.2 mm and includes taper operation to avoid undulator structure in the radiated spectrum at low energy. (Less)

International audience; The laser plasma accelerator has shown a great promise where it uses plasma wakefields achieving gradients as high as GeV/cm. With such properties, one would be able to build much more compact accelerators, compared to the conventional RF ones, that could be used for a wide range of fundamental research and applied applications. However, the electron beam properties are quite different, in particular, the high divergence, leading to a significant growth of the emittance along the transport line. It is, thus, essential to mitigate it via a strong focusing of the electron beam to enable beam transport. High-gradient quadrupoles achieving a gradient greater than 100 T/m are key components for handling laser plasma accelerator beams. Permanent magnet technology can be used to build very compact quadrupoles capable of providing a very large gradient up to 500 T/m. We present different designs, modeled with a 3D magnetostatic code, of fixed and variable systems. We also review different quadrupoles that have already been built and one design is compared to measurements.

The new APPLE X undulators are novel elliptically-polarised undulators, which have a highly symmetric geometry. Theoretically, all the elliptical polarisation states are expected to have the same deflection parameter if the magnetic and geometrical errors are negligible. Nonetheless, the magnetic measurements of the first ten APPLE X undulators performed at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) contradicted this simple statement and numerical simulations were required to understand and validate the results. After the valuation of the magnetic-force induced mechanical deformations of the undulator frame, the central role played by the magnetic susceptibility χ was investigated. The simulation results indicate that the impact of different magnet types in the Halbach array, the anisotropic properties, and the choice of shaped field radial magnets are critical for the achieved magnetic field. The numerical results are compared with the measurement data.

International audience; Laser-plasma accelerators (LPA) deliver relativistic electron beams with high peak current and low emittance, with energies up to the GeV-level in only few centimetres. However, the divergence and the energy spread of these beams remain too large for potential light source applications. A magnetic transfer line can be used to manipulate the electron beam phase-space and select the transmitted energies with a slit located at its center. We will show that with a proper focusing optics along the line, one can tune the energy spread of the beam at a given energy without loss and produce undulator radiation with controlled bandwidth. We present analytic studies, numerical simulations and experimental results on the controled electron beam transport and application to undulator radiation with a control of the bandwidth.

With gigaelectron-volts per centimetre energy gains and femtosecond electron beams, laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is a promising candidate for applications, such as ultrafast electron diffraction, multistaged colliders and radiation sources (betatron, compton, undulator, free electron laser). However, for some of these applications, the beam performance, for example, energy spread, divergence and shot-to-shot fluctuations, need a drastic improvement. Here, we show that, using a dedicated transport line, we can mitigate these initial weaknesses. We demonstrate that we can manipulate the beam longitudinal and transverse phase-space of the presently available LWFA beams. Indeed, we separately correct orbit mis-steerings and minimise dispersion thanks to specially designed variable strength quadrupoles, and select the useful energy range passing through a slit in a magnetic chicane. Therefore, this matched electron beam leads to the successful observation of undulator synchrotron radiation after an 8 m transport path. These results pave the way to applications demanding in terms of beam quality., Electron beam quality in accelerators is crucial for light source application. Here the authors demonstrate beam conditioning of laser plasma electrons thanks to a specific transport line enabling the control of divergence, energy, steering and dispersion and the application to observe undulator radiation.

Laser Plasma Accelerators (LPA) can sustain GeV/m accelerating fields offering outstanding new possibilities for compact applications. Despite the impressive recent developments, the LPA beam quality is still significantly lower than in the conventional radio-frequency accelerators, which is an issue in the cases of demanding applications such as Free Electron Lasers (FELs). If the electron beam duration is below few tens of femtosecond keeping pC charges, the mrad level divergence and few percent energy spread are particularly limiting. Several concepts of transfer line were proposed to mitigate those intrinsic properties targetting undulator radiation applications. We study here the robustness of the chromatic matching strategy for FEL amplification at 200~nm in a dedicated transport line, and analyze its sensitivity to several parameters. We consider not only the possible LPA source jitters, but also various realistic defaults of the equipment such as magnetic elements misalignements or focussing strength errors, unperfect undulator fields, etc...

CPMUs enable to reduce the period, have additional number of periods within a given length, and thus achieve higher brightness at lower wavelength. CPMU are also suitable for future compact FEL applications.

More than 50 years after the laser discovery, X-ray free electron lasers (FEL), the first powerful tuneable, short pulse lasers in the X-ray spectral range, are now blooming in the world, enabling new discoveries on the ultra-fast dynamics of excited systems and imaging. LUNEX5 demonstrator project aims at investigating paths towards advanced and compact FELs. Two strategies are adopted. The first one concerns the FEL line where seeding and echo harmonic generation are implemented together with compact cryogenic in-vacuum undulators. In the second one, the electron beam is no longer provided by a conventional linear accelerator but by a laser plasma process, while a necessary particular electron beam manipulation is required to handle the electron properties to enable FEL amplification.

Laser Plasma Acceleration (LPA) is capable of producing a GeV beam within a cm accelerating distance, but with a rather high initial divergence and large energy spread. COXINEL aims to demonstrate a compact Free Electron Laser using such a source, where a specific transport line with adequate elements is used, such as tunable high gradient quadrupoles for handling the divergence. An innovative permanent magnet based quadrupole (QUAPEVA) made of two quadrupoles superimposed capable of generating a gradient of 200 T/m is presented. The first quadrupole consists of magnets shaped as a ring and attaining a constant gradient of 155 T/m, and the second one made of four cylindrical magnets surrounding the ring and capable of rotating around their axis to achieve a gradient tunability of $\pm$ 46 T/m. Each tuning magnet is connected to a motor and controlled independently, enabling the gradient to be tuned with a rather good magnetic center stability ($\pm$10 $\mu$m) and without any field asymmetry. The measurements and field optimization of seven quadrupoles with different magnetic lengths are reported. A set of QUAPEVA triplet, installed at COXINEL, achieved good focusing and enabled beam based alignment., Comment: 4 pages, 9 figures

International audience; Laser plasma acceleration (LPA) capable of providing femtosecond and GeV electron beams in cm scale distances brings a high interest for different applications, such as free electron laser and future colliders. Nevertheless, LPA high divergence and energy spread require an initial strong focus to mitigate the chromatic effects. The reliability, in particular with the pointing fluctuations, sets a real challenge for the control of the dispersion along the electron beam transport. We examine here how the magnetic defects of the first strong quadrupoles, in particular, the skew terms, can affect the brightness of the transported electron beam, in the case of the COXINEL transport line, designed for manipulating the electron beam properties for a free electron laser application. We also show that the higher the initial beam divergence, the larger the degradation. Experimentally, after having implemented a beam pointing alignment compensation method enabling us to adjust the position and dispersion independently, we demonstrate that the presence of non-negligible skew quadrupolar components induces a transversal spread and tilt of the beam, leading to an emittance growth and brightness reduction. We are able to reproduce the measurements with beam transport simulations using the measured electron beam parameters.

Cryogenic permanent magnet undulators take benefit from improved magnetic properties of RE2Fe14B (Rare Earth based magnets) at cryogenic temperatures for achieving short period high magnetic field. In particular, using Praseodymium instead of Neodymium generally employed for insertion devices avoids limitation due to Spin Reorientation Transition phenomenon. Magnetic properties of magnet samples (Nd2Fe14B and Pr2Fe14B) versus temperature have been investigated and applied to a 20 mm period Nd2Fe14B (BH50) and to a 18 mm period Pr2Fe14B (CR53) systems. Four period undulators have been built, characterised and compared to the models.

The original version of this Article contained an error in the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Introduction and incorrectly read ‘A proper electron beam control is one of the main challenges towards the Graal of developing a compact alternative of X-ray free-electron lasers by coupling LWFA gigaelectron-volts per centimetre acceleration gradient with undulators in the amplification regime in equation 11, nx(n-β) x β: n the two times and beta the two times should be bold since they are vectorsin Eq. 12, β should be bold as well.’ The correct version is ‘A proper electron beam control is one of the main challenges towards the Graal of developing a compact alternative of X-ray free-electron lasers by coupling LWFA gigaelectron-volts per centimetre acceleration gradient with undulators in the amplification regime.’This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

The first results of commissioning for the French Synchrotron Radiation Facility SOLEIL at 2.75 GeV are presented. Perspectives for the fourth generation light source based on the ARC-EN-CIEL project are described.

SOLEIL is the French 2.75 GeV synchrotron radiation light source of low emittance under construction near Paris. It will provide high intensity photons covering a wide spectral range from the IR to the hard X-rays. The storage ring commissioning started in late May 2006, and the first photons on the first beamline were observed in September 2006. The first set of Insertion Devices (ID), either already installed before the ring commissioning or to be installed within the first year of operation of the machine, consists of one 640 mm period and three 256 mm period electromagnetic elliptical undulators, three 80 mm period APPLE-II type undulators, and three 20 mm period in-vacuum undulators. All these IDs make use of a wide panoply of technical solutions for generating various types of magnetic fields. Magnetic and conceptual designs were performed by SOLEIL, and the technical realization was carried out together with different manufacturers. The design specificities of the different types of IDs, as well as the results of the shimming and magnetic measurements performed at SOLEIL are reported.

Three elliptical undulators HU256 (period 256 mm) of electromagnetic type were produced, tested and magnetically measured by the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Russia) for Synchrotron SOLEIL (France). The undulators have a new design of a Bx and Bz closed structure for insertion vacuum chamber. The magnetic calculations of the individual dipoles and undulator structures were executed by means of Mermaid 3D Code. The expected magnetic parameters for all manufactured dipoles were fulfilled on basis of these model dependences from the mechanical characteristics (pole gap, yoke width, and coil position). The estimated 1st integral of all dipoles had been used in an optimal arrangement of the dipoles in undulators (sorting). Owing to the realized sorting, the 1st integral of the magnetic field and phase error of the assembled undulators had been decreased in comparison with the statistic estimations. The special Hall probes systems for the magnetic measurements of the undulators HU256 were designed and manufactured by the BINP. All three HU256 undulators were magnetically measured at the BINP and re-measured at the SOLEIL after transportation. The results of magnetic measurements and model estimates are compared and analyzed.

Synchrotron radiation is emitted by accelerated relativistic charged particles. In accelerators, it is produced when the particle trajectory is subjected to a magnetic field, either in bending magnets or in specific insertion devices (undulators or wigglers) made of an alternated succession of magnets, allowing the number of curvatures to be increased and the radiation to be reinforced. Synchrotron radiation, tunable from infra-red to x-rays, has a low divergence and small size source, and it can provide different types of polarization. It produces radiation pulses, whose duration results from that of the electron bunch from which they are generated. The repetition rate also depends on the accelerator type: high (typically MHz for storage rings, kHz for superconducting linear accelerators) and 10 to 100 Hz (for normal conducting linear accelerators). Longitudinally coherent radiation can also be generatedf or long bunches with respect to the emitted wavelength or thanks to the Free Electron Laser process.

The laser–plasma accelerator (LPA) presently provides electron beams with a typical current of a few kA, a bunch length of a few fs, energy in the few hundred MeV to several GeV range, a divergence of typically 1 mrad, an energy spread of the order of 1%, and a normalized emittance of the order of π.mm.mrad. One of the first applications could be to use these beams for the production of radiation: undulator emission has been observed but the rather large energy spread (1%) and divergence (1 mrad) prevent straightforward free-electron laser (FEL) amplification. An adequate beam manipulation through the transport to the undulator is then required. The key concept proposed here relies on an innovative electron beam longitudinal and transverse manipulation in the transport towards an undulator: a 'demixing' chicane sorts the electrons according to their energy and reduces the spread from 1% to one slice of a few ‰ and the effective transverse size is maintained constant along the undulator (supermatching) by a proper synchronization of the electron beam focusing with the progress of the optical wave. A test experiment for the demonstration of FEL amplification with an LPA is under preparation. Electron beam transport follows different steps with strong focusing with permanent magnet quadrupoles of variable strength, a demixing chicane with conventional dipoles, and a second set of quadrupoles for further focusing in the undulator. The FEL simulations and the progress of the preparation of the experiment are presented.

The 2.75 GeV storage ring of the SOLEIL third generation light source in France consists of 16 cells and 24 straight sections (4times12 m,12times7 m, 8times3.6 m) for a total circumference of 354 m. Twenty-four insertion devices (IDs) are planned for providing high brilliance radiation from UV to hard X ray. They consist of adjustable polarisation sources in the UV-soft X ray (electromagnetic devices of periods 640 mm and 256 mm, APPLE-II type undulators of periods ranging between 80 and 34 mm) and planar devices for the production of hard X-ray (in vacuum undulators of period 20 or 24 mm and one 50 mm period in vacuum wiggler). During the commissioning of the presently installed ten IDs (HU640, 3timesHU256, 3timesHU80, 3timesU20), the effects on the beam have been studied in terms of closed orbit distortions (CODs), tune shifts, additional coupling and compared with the expectations from magnetic measurements in the laboratory. The COD was compensated using a Feed ForWard (FFW) with local correctors. The radiation observed at the beam lines is also analysed.

Three elliptical undulators HU256 of electromagnetic type were produced, tested and magnetically measured by the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (Russia) for Synchrotron Soleil (France). The undulators have a new design of a Bx & Bz closed structure for insertion vacuum chamber. In the elliptical undulator HU256 with period of the magnetic fields of 256 mm, the vertical magnetic field (Bzmax=0.44 T) formed by 27 Bz laminated dipole magnets is symmetric, and the horizontal magnetic field (Bxmax=0.33 T) formed by 28 Bx laminated dipole magnets is asymmetric. The undulator can work in standard mode as well as in a quasi‐periodical mode. The vertical magnetic field may be modulated by switching on the modulation coils placed on the Bz dipoles. Two power supply systems allow us to modulate the horizontal magnetic field, and change the radiation spectrum. The magnetic calculations of the individual dipoles and dipoles in “undulator” environment were executed by means of Mermaid 3D Code. The magnetic measurements of the individual dipoles had confirmed the magnetic calculations. On basis of semiempirical dependences from the mechanical characteristics the estimates of the magnetic parameters for all dipoles were calculated. Sorting of dipoles in the undulators have been done, and it has improved the magnetic parameters of the assembled undulators in comparison with the statistical estimations. The magnetic measurements of the undulators HU256 were carried out at Budker INP by Hall probes and at Soleil by Hall probes and Stretched Wire. Now the 1st undulator HU256 is installed at Soleil Storage Ring.

At SOLEIL, Insertion Devices (IDs) performances are first evaluated with the electron beam commissioning then by the study of the radiation properties with the beamline. Spectra calculated from magnetic measurements with Synchrotron Radiation Workshop code and the ones measured on the beamline are compared. Even and odd harmonics width are measured and spatial distributions at a fixed energy are checked for several gap and phase values. Radiation properties are detailed in the cases of a 20 mm period planar in-vacuum undulator (U20), a 42 mm period APPLE II device (HU42) and a 80 mm period APPLE II device (HU80) generating non periodic magnetic fields components.