Investigation of novel shape-controlled linearly and circularly polarized attosecond pulse sources

In this article, we investigate the temporal shape of one- or few-cycle, 20–180 nm central wavelength attosecond pulses that are produced in a scheme based on coherent undulator radiation. It is demonstrated, that the carrier–envelope phase (CEP) of the radiated electric field can be chosen arbitrarily by shaping the magnetic field of the radiator undulator appropriately. It is shown that the temporal shape and the spectrum of the generated electric field are influenced by the spatial shape and amplitude of the magnetic field of the radiator undulator for different central wavelength pulses, while both are practically independent of the energy of the initial electron bunch. Shape distortions at high K undulator parameters are also discussed.