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Description
Laser-plasma accelerators (LPAs) can produce electron beams with high peak current and low emittance, making them attractive drivers for compact free-electron lasers (FELs). However, the large angular divergence and energy spread of LPA beams make efficient beam transport and FEL amplification challenging.
In this work, we simulate the generation of an LPA electron beam with the particle-in-cell code OSIRIS, using shock injection as the injection scheme. The beam is then used to design a compact beamline for FEL operation in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) regime, in which the FEL reaches saturation within a single undulator module. Full start-to-end simulations, from plasma acceleration through beam transport to FEL radiation, were performed to evaluate the performance of the complete system.
Our results show that shock injection can deliver electron beams of sufficient quality to drive a compact FEL, supporting the development of LPA-based light sources and their applications. These progress are critical for future FEL facilities at ELI ERIC in the Czech Republic and for the EuPRAXIA project.