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arXiv · 2510.00640

Spectral Control of a Cavity-Based X-ray Free-Electron Laser via Active Mode Locking

Nanshun Huang·Hanxiang Yang·Haixiao Deng
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Abstract

Precise spectral control in the hard X-ray regime remains a long-standing challenge that limits applications in atomic-scale science and ultrafast spectroscopy. We present an actively mode-locked cavity-based X-ray free-electron laser that achieves deterministic spectral programmability with phase-locked pulse trains and comb-like spectra, by coherently modulating the electron-beam energy. Three-dimensional time-dependent simulations predict \SI{700}{\micro\joule} total energy, \SI{30}{\giga\watt} peak power, and frequency-comb spacing of \SI{1.55}{\electronvolt} set by the modulation frequency. We further develop selective single-line amplification via undulator tapering and absolute frequency positioning through modulation-laser tuning with better than $2 \times 10^{-5}$ relative precision. Importantly, stable mode-locked operation persists under >80\% peak-to-peak cavity-reflectivity variations, substantially relaxing requirements on X-ray optics. These results establish active mode locking as a practical route to fully coherent, spectrally agile hard X-ray sources and enable new opportunities in time-resolved core-level spectroscopy, X-ray quantum optics, and precision metrology.

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Nanshun Huang, Hanxiang Yang, Haixiao Deng. 2025-10-01. Spectral Control of a Cavity-Based X-ray Free-Electron Laser via Active Mode Locking. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00640

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