Deep UV-Free Electron Laser Achieves Important Milestone

On February 13, 2002 the BNL Deep Ultra-Violet Free Electron Laser (DUV-FEL) facility achieved an important milestone on the way to its ultimate goal, the production of 100 nm laser light by the process of High Gain Harmonic Generation (HGHG). The DUV-FEL produced laser light at 400 nm at truly unexpected levels by the process of Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE).

Scientists at the facility would have been satisfied to produce SASE laser light at levels only thirty times higher than the spontaneous emission without lasing action, but were pleasantly surprised by a generated laser intensity 20,000 times higher than the spontaneous emission. “This shows that we have generated an electron beam of extremely high quality,” said Scientist Erik Johnson, a researcher at the facility. “It shows that the beam-based alignment scheme developed here is correct, and the instrumentation that we meticulously installed in the magnetic undulator to observe the beam is worth the effort. In the illustration here, exponential increase of the light intensity along the length of the undulator is clearly shown.”

The performance of the DUV-FEL gives researchers confidence that the goal of 100 nm is indeed within reach. Implementation of HGHG is underway, in the meantime, DUV-FEL scientists along with collaborators from DESY and SLAC are pursuing studies in fundamental electron beam physics at this unique facility to further understand the processes involved and to help pave the way toward an X-Ray laser.