This report presents the conceptual design of a new European research infrastructure EuPRAXIA. The concept has been established over the last four years in a unique collaboration of 41 laboratories within a Horizon 2020 design study funded by the European Union. EuPRAXIA is the first European project that develops a dedicated particle accelerator research infrastructure based on novel plasma acceleration concepts and laser technology. It focuses on the development of electron accelerators and underlying technologies, their user communities, and the exploitation of existing accelerator infrastructures in Europe. EuPRAXIA has involved, amongst others, the international laser community and industry to build links and bridges with accelerator science — through realising synergies, identifying disruptive ideas, innovating, and fostering knowledge exchange. The Eu-PRAXIA project aims at the construction of an innovative electron accelerator using laser- and electron-beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration that offers a significant reduction in size and possible savings in cost over current state-of-the-art radiofrequency-based accelerators. The foreseen electron energy range of one to five gigaelectronvolts (GeV) and its performance goals will enable versatile applications in various domains, e.g. as a compact free-electron laser (FEL), compact sources for medical imaging and positron generation, table-top test beams for particle detectors, as well as deeply penetrating X-ray and gamma-ray sources for material testing. EuPRAXIA is designed to be the required stepping stone to possible future plasma-based facilities, such as linear colliders at the high-energy physics (HEP) energy frontier. Consistent with a high-confidence approach, the project includes measures to retire risk by establishing scaled technology demonstrators. This report includes preliminary models for project implementation, cost and schedule that would allow operation of the full Eu-PRAXIA facility within 8—10 years.
Ultraviolet absorption measurements and laser excitation spectroscopy in the vicinity of 248 nm provide compelling evidence for linkages between the oxygen deficiency center (ODC) and rare earth concentrations in Yb and Er-doped glass optical fibers. Investigations of YAG-derived and solution-doped glass fibers are described. For both Yb and Er-doped fibers, the dependence of Type II ODC absorption on the rare earth number density is approximately linear, but the magnitude of the effect is greater for Yb-doped fibers. Furthermore, laser excitation spectra demonstrate unambiguously the existence of an energy transfer mechanism coupling an ODC with Yb(3+). Photopumping glass fibers with a Ti:sapphire laser/optical parametric amplifier system, tunable over the 225-265 nm region, or with a KrF laser at 248.4 nm show: 1) emission features in the 200-1100 nm interval attributable only to the ODC (Type II) defect or Yb(3+), and 2) the excitation spectra for ODC (II) emission at ~280 nm and Yb(3+) fluorescence (λ ~1.03 μm) to be, within experimental uncertainty, identical. The latter demonstrates that, when irradiating Yb-doped silica fibers between ~240 and 255 nm, the ODC (II) defect is at least the primary precursor to Yb(3+) emission. Consistent with previous reports in the literature, the data show the ODC (II) absorption spectrum to have a peak wavelength and breadth of ~246 nm and ~19 nm (FWHM). Experiments also reveal that, in the absence of Yb, incorporating either Al(2)O(3) or Y(2)O(3) into glass fibers has a negligible impact on the ODC concentration. Not only do the data reported here demonstrate the relationship between the ODC (II) number density and the Yb doping concentration, but they also suggest that the appearance of ODC defects in the fiber is associated with the introduction of Yb and the process by which the fiber is formed.
Fractals are ubiquitous in nature, and prominent examples include snowflakes and neurons. Although it has long been known that intricate optical fractal patterns can be realized with components such as gratings and reflecting spheres, generating fractal transverse modes from a laser has proven to be elusive. By introducing a 2D network of microspheres into a Fabry-Pérot cavity bounding a gain medium, we demonstrate a hybrid optical resonator in which the spheres enable the simultaneous generation of arrays of conventional (Gaussian) and fractal laser modes. Within the interstices of the microsphere crystal, several distinct fractal modes are observed, two of which resemble the Sierpinski Triangle. Coupling between adjacent fractal modes is evident, and fractal modes may be synthesized through design of the microsphere network. Owing to a unique synergy between the gain medium and the resonator, this optical platform is able to emit hundreds of microlaser beams and probe live motile cells.
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