XFEL: Time-lapse video of pump-probe lasers’ installation

It’s 11 months of work compressed into 5 minutes. This time-lapse video shows the meticulous installation of one of the pump-probe laser systems at European XFEL. The facility currently hosts three such laser systems.

The pump-probe laser systems are used to measure ultrafast phenomena such as the movement of atoms. An ultrashort laser pulse excites the sample. This pulse is followed by an X-ray laser pulse that captures an image of the sample. Many images at different delays are put together to make a molecular movie that reveals the dynamics of ultrafast molecular processes such as biological or chemical reactions that take but a few femtoseconds to complete (1 femtosecond is one quadrillionth of a second).

 

"Aiming at 10-15 femtosecond pulses with millijoule energy and MHz repetition rate, the development of this laser was quite a challenge. These goals were way beyond anything shown previously,” says Maximilian Lederer, Group Leader of the Optical Lasers group. “To enable high quality pump-probe experiments, we also needed to match the EuXFEL burst-mode operation and stay closely synchronized.  Ultimately, we chose an approach utilizing optical parametric amplifiers. A key factor for success turned out to be the right mix of our own research and collaborative R&D with industry,” he adds.  The control and monitoring system already enables remote operability and the group is working hard to provide additional features in the future.