Optical control of an atomic inner-shell x-ray laser

TL;DR

This paper proposes a neon-based atomic inner-shell x-ray laser that produces coherent, synchronized subfemtosecond pulses controlled by an optical laser, enabling advanced applications in quantum optics and ultrafast dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a scheme for an atomic inner-shell x-ray laser with optical control and synchronization, addressing limitations of current SASE free-electron lasers.

Findings

Produces temporally and spatially coherent subfemtosecond pulses

Achieves synchronization with femtosecond precision

Enables new applications in quantum optics and ultrafast science

Abstract

X-ray free-electron lasers have had an enormous impact on x-ray science by achieving femtosecond pulses with unprecedented intensities. However, present-day facilities operating by the self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) principle have a number of shortcomings, namely, their radiation has a chaotic pulse profile and short coherence times. We put forward a scheme for a neon-based atomic inner-shell x-ray laser (XRL) which produces temporally and spatially coherent subfemtosecond pulses that are controlled by and synchronized to an optical laser with femtosecond precision. We envision that such an XRL will allow for numerous applications such as nuclear quantum optics and the study of ultrafast quantum dynamics of atoms, molecules, and condensed matter.