Highly efficient arrival timing diagnostics for femtosecond X-ray and optical laser pulses

We developed a diagnostic system for measuring the arrival timing between femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) and near-infrared laser pulses with high efficiency. The ultrafast change in optical transmittance induced by intense XFEL light was probed by a spatial decoding technique. For enhancing detection efficiency, we utilized an X-ray elliptical mirror that increases X-ray intensity by forming a line-focused profile. We found that the system is applicable to the timing diagnostics for 12 keV X-ray pulses with a pulse energy as small as 12 mu J. (C) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics