Lux – A laser–plasma driven undulator beamline

Abstract

The Lux beamline is a novel type of laser–plasma accelerator. Building on the joint expertise of the University of Hamburg and Desy the beamline was carefully designed to combine state-of-the-art expertise in laser–plasma acceleration with the latest advances in accelerator technology and beam diagnostics. Lux introduces a paradigm change moving from single-shot demonstration experiments towards available, stable and controllable accelerator operation. Here, we discuss the general design concepts of Lux and present first critical milestones that have recently been achieved, including the generation of electron beams at the repetition rate of up to 5 Hz with energies above 600 MeV and the generation of spontaneous undulator radiation at a wavelength well below 9 nm.