Speaker
Description
The ELI Beamlines Centre, situated near Prague in the Czech Republic and operating as part of ELI ERIC, has been designated as the second pillar of the EuPRAXIA distributed user facility. It is developing a user-focused programme centred on laser–plasma accelerators (LPAs). A key initiative involves creating an LPA-driven free-electron laser (FEL) for the XUV and soft X-ray water-window ranges. The soft X-ray line will operate with approximately 1 GeV LPA electrons at 100 Hz, supporting research in biology, ultrafast chemistry, and nanoscale materials. The XUV line enables a broad scientific programme including time-resolved spectroscopy, attosecond dynamics, ultrafast magnetism, and surface science.
The project utilises unique features of LPA-based FELs compared to LINAC-based facilities: naturally few-femtosecond electron bunches, high peak currents without needing compression, inherent sub-femtosecond synchronization with the drive laser, and a significantly smaller accelerator footprint. These features enable experimental regimes that are challenging for existing large-scale FELs, particularly in ultrafast pump–probe and attoscience applications.
Complementary developments include betatron X-rays and a low-energy positron source from a kHz LPA accelerator, broadening user access to advanced plasma-driven radiation and particle beams within the EuPRAXIA framework.
Funding Agency
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 653782
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