Swiss advanced laser manufacturer ONEFIVE GmbH has developed an ultrafast laser system for experiments at the European XFEL in Hamburg. Onefive used its expertise in low-noise ultrafast laser physics to build a fully optical fibre based front-end laser system to provide the initial laser pulses for the XFEL pump-probe laser. Following successful tests, three Onefive laser systems will be installed at the European XFEL.

Ultrafast processes, taking less than a billionth of a second to complete, require a highly-specialised tool to capture snapshots fast enough to understood what is happening. The newly built European XFEL in Hamburg has been designed exactly for this purpose. Ultrashort, high-intensity x-ray flashes produced at the European XFEL will enable studies of ultrafast processes in solids, gas-phase, chemical and bio-molecular structures, and extreme states of matter down to the atomic level. Research experiments in this regime typically operate using a pump-probe method: an optical laser is used to activate samples followed by a measurement with the x-ray flashes.

Swiss advanced laser manufacturer Onefive GmbH has combined its expertise with the Laser Group at the European XFEL to develop a unique high power femtosecond burst mode pump-probe laser system for experiments at the new research facility.

Extreme laser requirements

Onefive laser expertise finds a solution

Onefive used its expertise in low-noise ultrafast laser physics to build a fully optical fibre based front-end laser system to provide the initial laser pulses for the pump-probe system. This new laser system, the Origami-10 XP Dual Burst, has been customized by Onefive to the unique requirements of the European XFEL pump-probe laser. Following successful tests of the complete pump-probe laser system, three Onefive Origami-XP Dual Burst systems will be installed at the European XFEL. 

The Origami-10 XP Dual Burst provides dual output ports for simultaneously providing the seed and pump line for an optical amplifier and the laser head is entirely passively air-cooled for low vibration and excellent beam pointing stability. The laser is synchronized to a high frequency timing reference signal and its flexible burst time can provide burst-to-burst variable repetition rate while keeping other parameters constant. In addition, the Onefive laser can be remotely controlled and is integrated into the European XFEL software environment.