James Rosenzweig
Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, USA
Date
25 February 2015
Host
Rainer Wallny
Title
The Birth of the Fifth Generation Light Source
Abstract
The 4th generation light source — the X-ray free electron laser — has revolutionized the way science at the nano-to-mesoscale is done. UCLA researchers have played a key role in this development, and which is moving to a new phase: the birth of what is known as the 5th generation light source – an ultra-compact FEL or similar scheme that is driven by a beam derived from an advanced accelerator, a new class of accelerator based on lasers, plasmas, wakefields and exotic structures. We discuss the characteristics of such a system, beginning with an overview of FEL gain mechanisms, noting that the future will bring low charge beams with extreme high brightness and temporal scales down to the attosecond level.