Response Time-Shortened Zinc Oxide Scintillator for Accurate Single-Shot Synchronization of Extreme Ultraviolet Free-Electron Laser and Short-Pulse Laser

Abstract

We report an over one-order-of magnitude improvement in the response time of conventional hydrothermal method-grown zinc oxide (ZnO) scintillator by introducing additional quenching channels via intentional indium ion doping. A 3-ps fluorescence decay time constant is achieved, therefore making it the fastest scintillator operating below 100 nm to date. Using this indium-doped ZnO, relative jitter between extreme ultraviolet free electron laser (EUV-FEL) probe and optical pump pulses is evaluated to be less than 3 ps. Moreover, pulses from these sources can be synchronized with 3-ps accuracy through in-situ observation of relative time difference in single-shot base.