LINAC2026 - 33rd Linear Accelerator Conference

Continuous operation of a free-electron laser driven by a laser-plasma accelerator

Not scheduled

2h

Daejeon Convention Center

Poster Presentation MC1.A04 Plasma and wakefield acceleration Poster Session

Speaker

Stephen Milton (TAU Systems, Inc.)

Description

Substantial work has been dedicated towards using LPAs to drive free-electron lasers (FELs) for a broad range of applications. Despite recent breakthroughs, which have proven the fundamental feasibility of operating FELs with an LPA source, stable FEL operation over multiple hours without operator input had yet to be achieved. We report significant improvements to the stability of a hundred TW laser system, resulting in successful demonstration of reliable, long-term operation of an LPA-driven FEL in the SASE regime at 420 nm. The LPA source delivered 100 MeV electron beams at 1 Hz with high stability over more than ten hours, enabling over eight hours of continuous FEL operation without operator input. The acquired data was subsequently used to investigate correlations between the measured undulator radiation and parameters of the drive laser, plasma source, and electron beam. The revealed connections between LPA and FEL performance gave important additional insights into ways to further improve and stabilize the system, thus demonstrating the capability of our setup to serve as a powerful platform for future studies of LPA-driven FEL operation.