Abstract
Ultrashort light pulses are powerful tools for time-resolved studies of molecular and atomic dynamics1. They arise in the visible and infrared range from femtosecond lasers2, and at shorter wavelengths, in the ultraviolet and X-ray range, from synchrotron sources3 and free-electron lasers4. Recent progress in laser wakefield accelerators has resulted in electron beams with energies from tens of mega-electron volts (refs 5,6,7) to more than 1 GeV within a few centimetres8, with pulse durations predicted to be several femtoseconds9. The enormous progress in improving beam quality and stability5,6,7,8,10 makes them serious candidates for driving the next generation of ultracompact light sources11. Here, we demonstrate the first successful combination of a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator, producing 55–75 MeV electron bunches, with an undulator to generate visible synchrotron radiation. By demonstrating the wavelength scaling with energy, and narrow-bandwidth spectra, we show the potential for ultracompact and versatile laser-based radiation sources from the infrared to X-ray energies.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under contract TR18. Financial support by the Access to Research Infrastructures activity in the Sixth Framework Programme of the EU (contract RII3-CT-2003-506350, Laserlab Europe) for conducting the research is gratefully acknowledged. We thank B. Beleites, F. Ronneberger and W. Ziegler for their technical support. S.M.W. acknowledges the support of the Department of Physics, Lancaster University, and the Cockcroft Institute, Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, UK. The UK team also acknowledges the support of the 105 Research Councils UK, EPSRC and the EU EuroLEAP NEST contract no. 028514.
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Schlenvoigt, HP., Haupt, K., Debus, A. et al. A compact synchrotron radiation source driven by a laser-plasma wakefield accelerator. Nature Phys 4, 130–133 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys811
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys811
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