Thermoelastic response of Bragg crystals under MHz thermal loading

TL;DR

This paper investigates how high-energy x-ray pulses cause thermoelastic deformation in Bragg crystals, which is crucial for developing MHz-repetition-rate XFELOs for stable, coherent x-ray production.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the thermoelastic response of Bragg crystals under MHz thermal loading, addressing a key challenge for next-generation x-ray laser facilities.

Findings

Temperature gradients and elastic waves are induced in crystals by high-energy x-ray pulses.

Crystal lattice deformation impacts Bragg performance at high repetition rates.

Results inform design considerations for MHz XFELOs.

Abstract

An x-ray free-electron laser oscillator (XFELO) is a promising candidate for producing fully coherent x-rays beyond the fourth-generation light sources. An R&D XFELO experiment (ANL-SLAC-Spring-8 collaboration) to demonstrate the basic principles and measure the two-pass FEL gain is expected to be accomplished by 2025. Beyond this R&D experiment, an XFELO user facility will be eventually needed to produce stable x-ray pulses with saturated pulse energy at MHz repetition rate. One of the outstanding issues for realizing an MHz XFELO is the possible Bragg crystal degradation due to the high-repetition-rate thermal loading from high-pulse-energy x-rays. The deposited energy by one x-ray pulse induces temperature gradients and elastic waves in the crystal, where the deformed crystal lattice impacts the Bragg performance for subsequent x-ray pulses. Here, we present studies of the crystal thermoelastic response under thermal loading of high-energy x-ray pulse trains.