Harmonic lasing in a free-electron-laser amplifier

A method is demonstrated that allows a planar wiggler high-gain Free-Electron-Laser (FEL) amplifier to lase so that the interaction with an odd harmonic of the radiation field dominates that of the fundamental. This harmonic lasing of the FEL is achieved by disrupting the electron interaction with the usually dominant fundamental while allowing that of a harmonic interaction to evolve unhindered. The disruption is achieved by a series of relative phase changes between the electrons and the ponderomotive potentials of both the fundamental and harmonic fields. Such phase changes are relatively easy to implement and some current FEL designs would require little or no structural modification to test the scheme.