AP-Seminar: X-ray Laser Spectroscopy with Trapped Highly Charged Ions at a Free-Electron Laser

Laser spectroscopy is a remarkably successful experimental method. However, the X-ray wavelength regime was not accessible due to the lack of appropriate lasers. In recent years, a new kind of ultrabrilliant light sources, free electron lasers, have become available. In the experiments presented, an electron beam ion trap was used to provide a target of trapped highly charged ions, interacting with femtosecond X-ray pulses from the Linac Coherent Light Source free-electron laser. This introduced the techniques of laser spectroscopy into the 1 keV spectral range, and was used to investigate spectral features of Fe XVII, important for astrophysics and benchmarking general atomic theory.