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Quantum entanglement between the degrees of freedom encountered in the classical world is challenging to observe due to the surrounding environment. To elucidate this issue, we investigate the entanglement generated over ultrafast timescales in a bipartite quantum system comprising two massive particles: a free-moving photoelectron, which expands to a mesoscopic length scale, and a light-dressed atomic ion, which represents a hybrid state of light and matter. Although the photoelectron spectra are measured classically, the entanglement allows us to reveal information about the dressed-state dynamics of the ion and the femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses delivered by a seeded free-electron laser. The observed generation of entanglement is interpreted using the time-dependent von Neumann entropy. Our results unveil the potential for using short-wavelength coherent light pulses from free-electron lasers to generate entangled photoelectron and ion systems for studying spooky action at a distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a non-reciprocal writing effect is proposed on the silicon by a femtosecond laser with tailor of temporal chirp. The induced structures which belong to the written lines with two opposite scans show obvious difference in the ablated regions. The grating compressor of a laser system is controlled to change the temporal chirp so as to flip the direction of the pulse front tilt, which results in 2 types of induced structures exchanging between two opposite scans. We assume, during the laser scans along the pulse front tilt, there may have a snowplow effect on the excited free electrons, leading to an asymmetrical electrical field distribution around the focal area. This process could further boost an ionization efficiency in the next pulse irradiation as well as make the induced structures grow faster. Current result possibly offers a new route to control the density of free electrons excited when femtosecond laser interacts with silicon wafer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SwissFEL is a compact, high-brilliance, soft and hard X-ray free electron laser (FEL) facility that started user operation in 2019. The facility is composed of two parallel beam lines seeded by a common linear accelerator (LINAC), and a two-bunch photo-injector. For the injector, an innovative dual-photocathode laser scheme has been developed based on state-of-the-art ytterbium femtosecond laser systems. In this paper, we describe the performance of the SwissFEL photocathode drive lasers (PCDLs), the pulse-shaping capabilities as well as the versatility of the systems, which allow many different modes of operation of SwissFEL. The full control over the SwissFEL electron bunch properties via the unique architecture of the PCDLs will enable in the future the advent of more-advanced FEL modes; these modes include, but are not restricted to, the generation of single or trains of sub-femtosecond FEL pulses, multi-color FEL and finally, the generation of fully coherent X-ray pulses via laser-based seeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an experimental study of the shot-to-shot intensity and spectral distribution fluctuations in the femtosecond coherent pulses from the storage ring (SR) based seeded free electron laser (FEL) at DELTA. A unique implementation of a gated ICCD camera coupled to a Czerny-Turner monochromator is utilized to reveal the details of the individual spectra and intensity of femtosecond pulses accompanied by a significant synchrotron background. This technique demonstrates the potential to study the dynamics of the electron bunches in an SR by scanning over a single electron bunch with seeded femtosecond laser pulses at a subharmonic repetition rate. To the best of our knowledge, this picture provides the first direct experimental evaluation of shot-to-shot intensity and spectral fluctuation in seeded SR-based FELs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Femtosecond laser pulses have opened new frontiers for the study of ultrafast phase transitions and nonequilibrium states of matter. In this Letter, we report on structural dynamics in atomic clusters pumped with intense near-infrared (NIR) pulses into a nanoplasma state. Employing wide-angle scattering with intense femtosecond x-ray pulses from a free-electron laser source, we find that highly excited xenon nanoparticles retain their crystalline bulk structure and density in the inner core long after the driving NIR pulse. The observed emergence of structural disorder in the nanoplasma is consistent with a propagation from the surface to the inner core of the clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]