Abstract

The duration of incoherent XUV pulses down to the femtoseconds (fs) can be retrieved through a statistical analysis of the modulations on the observed radiation spectrum. Uncorrelated shot-noise fluctuations in the pulse temporal profile result in incoherent radiation showing a multispike spectrum where the spike width is inversely proportional to the pulse length. In this Letter, single-shot temporal characterization of the betatron radiation pulses emitted by fs-long, 100's MeV electron bunches undergoing acceleration, and propagating through a plasma wiggler was performed in the XUV domain. The retrieved pulse lengths agree with independent measurements performed in the THz spectral range and with theoretical predictions. locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon locked icon Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)Electromagnetic field calculationsPhotonicsSecondary beamsShot noiseElectron sourcesLow- & intermediate-energy acceleratorsMedical applications of acceleratorsParticle accelerator facilitiesPulsed-power acceleratorsSynchrotron radiation & free-electron lasersEnergy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopyPhoton counting