Milestone for superconducting undulator

A European XFEL team at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology has tested a mock-up coil of the superconducting undulator pre-series module (S-PRESSO) designed for an upgrade of the European XFEL. It reached a world record magnetic field.

Undulators are one of the most important devices for a free-electron laser like the European XFEL in Schenefeld near Hamburg. With the help of a series of strong magnets an undulator creates an extremely brilliant light by forcing fast-moving electrons onto a slalom course. Furthermore, the undulators stimulate the electrons to emit laser-like electromagnetic radiation.

The strength of the magnets of an undulator determines the tunability of the photon energy range available for experiments. The Undulator Systems Group of European XFEL has started different activities in collaboration with Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY to allow the implementation of superconducting undulators into the European XFEL in the upcoming years. The contract for superconducting undulator pre-series module (S-PRESSO) consisting of two pair of coils and a phase shifter has been assigned to Bilfinger Noell GmbH. Now, a European XFEL team at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology has tested a 30-centimeter-long mock-up superconducting coil designed and build by Bilfinger Noell GmbH. The magnetic field of the S-PRESSO mock-up has reached 2 Tesla, which is larger ever reached before in such undulators.

European XFEL is planning to use superconducting undulators to reach lasing at unprecedented short wavelengths and high photon energies above 50 thousand electronvolt (50 keV). Such very hard X-rays e.g. are necessary for studying non-reproducible processes that live on time-scales of microseconds to femtoseconds and happen in difficult to access sample environments. X-ray lasers are an outstanding tool for the research e.g. on biomolecules, drugs, solid materials or even quantum states. Moreover, they are important for example for high energy density science to study planet evolution and for in-situ microscopy on technological processes, e.g. welding or battery research.

About European XFEL
European XFEL is an international research facility of superlatives in the Hamburg metropolitan region: 27,000 X-ray laser flashes per second and a luminosity that is a billion times higher than the best conventional X-ray radiation sources open up completely new research possibilities. Research groups from all over the world can use the European X-ray laser to decipher atomic details of viruses or cells, take three-dimensional images in the nanocosmos, film chemical reactions or investigate processes such as those inside planets.

European XFEL is a non-profit research organization that works closely with the DESY research center and other international institutions. It employs more than 500 people. Twelve countries are currently involved: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Germany (the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein) is contributing 58 percent of the costs for the new facility, Russia 27 percent. The other partner countries contribute between one and three percent.

Wissenschaftliche Ansprechpartner:

Scientific contact:
Sara Casalbuoni
Undulator Systems Group
Email: sara.casalbuoni@xfel.eu

Weitere Informationen:

Superconducting undulator activities at the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2023.1204073/full

Towards a Superconducting Undulator Afterburner for the European XFEL
https://xfel.tind.io/record/2688?_sm_au_=iVVt4kLf4Jj9qS464jRVNK7TN2K23

https://www.xfel.eu/news_and_events/news/index_eng.html?openDirectAnchor=2292&two_columns=0