Attosecond inner-shell lasing at ångström wavelengths

Thomas M. Linker (), Aliaksei Halavanau, Thomas Kroll, Andrei Benediktovitch, Yu Zhang, Yurina Michine, Stasis Chuchurka, Zain Abhari, Daniele Ronchetti, Thomas Fransson, Clemens Weninger, Franklin D. Fuller, Andy Aquila, Roberto Alonso-Mori, Sébastien Boutet, Marc W. Guetg, Agostino Marinelli, Alberto A. Lutman, Makina Yabashi, Ichiro Inoue, Taito Osaka, Jumpei Yamada, Yuichi Inubushi, Gota Yamaguchi, Toru Hara, Ganguli Babu, Devashish Salpekar, Farheen N. Sayed, Pulickel M. Ajayan, Jan Kern, Junko Yano, Vittal K. Yachandra, Matthias F. Kling, Claudio Pellegrini, Hitoki Yoneda, Nina Rohringer and Uwe Bergmann ()
Additional contact information
Thomas M. Linker: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Aliaksei Halavanau: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Thomas Kroll: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Andrei Benediktovitch: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Yu Zhang: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Yurina Michine: The University of Electro-Communications
Stasis Chuchurka: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Zain Abhari: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Daniele Ronchetti: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Thomas Fransson: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Clemens Weninger: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Franklin D. Fuller: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Andy Aquila: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Roberto Alonso-Mori: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Sébastien Boutet: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Marc W. Guetg: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Agostino Marinelli: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Alberto A. Lutman: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Makina Yabashi: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Ichiro Inoue: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Taito Osaka: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Jumpei Yamada: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Yuichi Inubushi: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Gota Yamaguchi: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Toru Hara: RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Ganguli Babu: Rice University
Devashish Salpekar: Rice University
Farheen N. Sayed: Rice University
Pulickel M. Ajayan: Rice University
Jan Kern: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Junko Yano: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Vittal K. Yachandra: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Matthias F. Kling: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Claudio Pellegrini: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Hitoki Yoneda: The University of Electro-Communications
Nina Rohringer: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
Uwe Bergmann: University of Wisconsin–Madison

Nature, 2025, vol. 642, issue 8069, 934-940

Abstract: Abstract Since the invention of the laser, nonlinear effects such as filamentation1, Rabi cycling2,3 and collective emission4 have been explored in the optical regime, leading to a wide range of scientific and industrial applications5–8. X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have extended many optical techniques to X-rays for their advantages of ångström-scale spatial resolution and elemental specificity9. An example is XFEL-driven inner-shell Kα1 (2p3/2 → 1s1/2) X-ray lasing in elements ranging from neon to copper, which has been used for nonlinear spectroscopy and development of new X-ray laser sources10–16. Here we show that strong lasing effects similar to those in the optical regime can occur at 1.5–2.1 Å wavelengths during high-intensity (>1019 W cm−2) XFEL-driven Kα1 lasing of copper and manganese. Depending on the temporal XFEL pump pulse substructure, the resulting X-ray pulses (about 106−108 photons) can exhibit strong spatial inhomogeneities and spectral splitting, inhomogeneities and broadening. Three-dimensional Maxwell–Bloch calculations17 show that the observed spatial inhomogeneities result from X-ray filamentation and that the broad spectral features are driven by sub-femtosecond Rabi cycling. Our simulations indicate that these X-ray pulses can have pulse lengths of less than 100 attoseconds and coherence properties that provide opportunities for quantum X-ray optics applications.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09105-9

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