Original manuscripts are sought to the special issue on “Femtosecond timing and synchronization at large scale facilities” of High Power Laser Science and Engineering (HPL).

The investigation of the dynamic of physical or biological processes at the femtosecond and sub-femtosecond time scales enables a deeper understanding of these phenomena, and sets strong requirements on the laser development, be it the generation of ultrashort hard x-rays pulses, or attosecond soft-X-ray to near infrared pulses. Several accelerator and high-power laser facilities and table-top systems have been built or are being developed in response to this quest.

A widely-used approach for dynamically resolved experiments is the pump-probe technique. The precise, accurate and stable control of the delay between the pump and the probe pulses is key to high experimental resolution.

Many groups are working on the topic of synchronization. Table-top attosecond systems benefit greatly of a sub-fs synchronization for e.g. attosecond streaking, whereas large-scale facilities requiring femtosecond scale arrival time stability develop schemes to improve the time arrival stability throughout the entire facility, on Earth or in space.

The goal of this article collection is to present the newest achievements in optical and RF synchronization and distribution methods, and the recent use of machine learning technology to improve the performance of timing system. The focal points revolve around hardware, diagnostic and software system, delving into the intricate workings of synchronization systems and into the development of new high power, high energy laser systems. This encompasses a comprehensive exploration of the design, development, and optimization of instrumentation components and circuits that contribute to synchronization, as well as novel approach for control and data analysis, e.g., using machine learning. The analysis of synchronization data can give insights into parameters influencing the arrival time stability, like environmental variations or ground movements. It can be also used for fault diagnosis, i.e., detection of malfunctioning of the synchronization, up to predictive maintenance.

The scope of this special issue is to highlight the cutting-edge developments on the synchronization systems pushing time resolution to sub-fs to a few-fs, at a small or large scale facility. Examples of themes to be addressed here are, but not limited to:

– Optical synchronization and distribution system for large scale facilities

– Synchronization of table-top attosecond systems

– RF synchronization systems

– Overall stability of large scale facilities

– Data analysis and algorithm

– Controls systems

– Controls methods optimization

– Machine learning methods for improved overall stability

 

Keywords:

• Synchronization of large accelerator facilities
• Optical synchronization
• RF Synchronization
• Data analysis
• Arrival time stability of large facilities
• Control

 

Guest Editors:

Submission deadline: 15 September 2024

 

Manuscripts should be submitted via the online submission system at: http://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/clp-hpl. Please select Special Issue on “Femtosecond timing and synchronization at large scale facilities” from the drop-down menu under “Manuscript Type” when submitting manuscript.

HPL is an open access journal co-published by Chinese Laser Press and Cambridge University Press. It seeks to uncover the underlying science and engineering in the fields of high energy density physics, high power lasers, advanced laser technology and applications, and laser components. Articles in HPL are freely available to all readers worldwide via journals.cambridge.org/hpl&researching.cn/hpl.