Deducing the electron-beam diameter in a laser-plasma accelerator using x-ray betatron radiation

We investigate the properties of a laser-plasma electron accelerator as a bright source of keV x-ray radiation. During the interaction, the electrons undergo betatron oscillations and from the carefully measured x-ray spectrum the oscillation amplitude of the electrons can be deduced which decreases with increasing electron energies. From the oscillation amplitude and the independently measured x-ray source size of (1.8±0.3) μm we are able to estimate the electron bunch diameter to be (1.6±0.3) μm.     

Single shot phase contrast imaging using laser-produced Betatron x-ray beams

Development of x-ray phase contrast imaging applications with a laboratory scale source have been limited by the long exposure time needed to obtain one image. We demonstrate, using the Betatron x-ray radiation produced when electrons are accelerated and wiggled in the laser-wakefield cavity, that a high-quality phase contrast image of a complex object (here, a bee), located in air, can be obtained with a single laser shot. The Betatron x-ray source used in this proof of principle experiment has a source diameter of 1.7 μm and produces a synchrotron spectrum with critical energy E(c)=12.3±2.5 keV and 10? photons per shot in the whole spectrum.     

High-resolution gamma-ray radiography produced by a laser-plasma driven electron source

An electron beam from a laser-plasma accelerator is converted into a gamma-ray source using bremsstrahlung radiation in a dense material. The gamma-ray beam has a pointlike source size because it is generated by a high quality electron beam with a small source size and a low divergence. Using this gamma-ray source, the radiography of complex and dense objects with submillimeter resolution is performed. It is the first evidence of a gamma-ray source size of a few hundreds micrometers produced with laser-driven accelerators. This size is consistent with results from Monte Carlo simulations.     

Monochromatic X-Ray Sources Based on Emitters Controlled by Laser Radiation

The results of study of frequency-tuned monochromatic x-ray source are reported. The source was developed on the basis of a vacuum diode with a laser-plasma cathode. The source proposed is particularly promising, if the range of x-ray energy higher than 5 keV is of interest. The source features a spectral brightness higher than 10¹⁹ photons/(cm²·s·sr·keV) and an x-ray pulse duration no larger than 10^?8 s. An electromagnetic model of such a cathode is proposed and evaluated in order to assess the feasibility of an x-ray source with a laser-plasma cathode of higher performance. The possibility of using a ferroelectric electron emitter is discussed.     

Simulation and measurement of air generated electron contamination in radiotherapy

Monte Carlo simulations using MCNP4A and experimental work have been performed to evaluate the contribution of electrons that are produced in air from a 6 MV x-ray beam produced by a medical linear accelerator. Results show that up to 9% of applied dose is delivered to a patient’s skin surface from electrons excited in the irradiated air column. For most field sizes this constitutes approximately 30% of dose delivered to this region. This study gives clinically relevant information on the origins and quantity of electrons at the skin of patients undergoing radiation therapy.     

Observation of terahertz emission from a laser-plasma accelerated electron bunch crossing a plasma-vacuum boundary

Coherent radiation in the 0.3-3 THz range has been generated from femtosecond electron bunches at a plasma-vacuum boundary via transition radiation. The bunches produced by a laser-plasma accelerator contained 1.5 nC of charge. The THz energy per pulse within a limited 30 mrad collection angle was 3-5 nJ and scaled quadratically with bunch charge, consistent with coherent emission. Modeling indicates that this broadband source produces about 0.3 microJ per pulse within a 100 mrad angle, and that increasing the transverse plasma size and electron beam energy could provide more than 100 microJ/pulse.     

Relativistic laser plasmas for novel radiation sources

Relativistic laser-plasma interaction results in new sources of short-pulsed x-ray radiation. Here we consider two options. The first one is betatron radiation of electrons accelerated in underdense plasmas and oscillating in transverse fields of the laser wake. This radiation is incoherent and broadband, the pulse duration is comparable with that of the driving laser. The second option is the high harmonic generation (HHG) from overdense plasma surfaces. This radiation is coherent. The relativistic high harmonics are phase locked and emerge in the form of (sub-)attosecond pulses. One- and three-dimensional regimes of relativistic HHG from overdense plasmas are considered.     

Observation of a hot high-current electron beam from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator

A highly relativistic electron beam produced by a 50 TW laser-plasma accelerator has been characterized by photonuclear techniques. The beam has large divergence that increases with plasma density. The electron yield also increases with plasma density and reaches up to 4x10(11) electrons ( >10 MeV), with beam current approaching the Alfvén limit. Effective electron temperatures exceeding 8 MeV are found, leading to an order of magnitude higher photonuclear activation yield than in solid target experiments with the same laser system.     

Evolution of the high power THz source program at Jefferson Lab

We report the evolution of the high power THz source program at Jefferson Lab. The source is based on coherent synchrotron radiation in which short bunches of relativistic electrons radiate when traversing a dipolar magnetic field. In our first accelerator we produced 20 W of broadband THz light. Our upgraded accelerator with higher current and improved THz extraction optics will considerably enhance the output power to >100 W. In this paper we describe the source in some detail and present theoretical calculations for the upgrade.     

激光-近临界等离子体高能高亮度X射线的产生

基于激光驱动超热电子产生的高品质X射线源是高能量密度实验中有效的诊断技术手段,对辐射源亮度、穿透性和时空分辨率等特性具有极高的要求。结合粒子模拟和蒙特卡罗模拟研究,首先利用近临界密度等离子体实现了激光自聚焦通道中的大电量高能电子加速,通过直接加速机制产生了电量超过600 nC、有效温度可达15 MeV的高能电子;以此为基础提高电子-光子能量转换率,有效优化了光子能量和产额,并通过一定的转换靶参数优化方案产生了微焦点(FWHM小于200 m)、高能、高亮度X射线,为高空间分辨(小于200 m)成像诊断提供了很好的途径,有望早日实现激光等离子体轫致辐射单脉冲瞬态照相的实际应用。     

Mapping the x-ray emission region in a laser-plasma accelerator

The x-ray emission in laser-plasma accelerators can be a powerful tool to understand the physics of relativistic laser-plasma interaction. It is shown here that the mapping of betatron x-ray radiation can be obtained from the x-ray beam profile when an aperture mask is positioned just beyond the end of the emission region. The influence of the plasma density on the position and the longitudinal profile of the x-ray emission is investigated and compared to particle-in-cell simulations. The measurement of the x-ray emission position and length provides insight on the dynamics of the interaction, including the electron self-injection region, possible multiple injection, and the role of the electron beam driven wakefield.     

Features of the X-ray radiation of interacting multiply charged clusters

The features of coherent x-ray bremsstrahlung radiation arising from the interaction of nanoparticles, namely, a fast and an immobile cluster consisting of positively charged nuclei and electrons are analyzed. The polarized bremsstrahlung radiation (PBR) of fast charges on electrons of an immobile cluster and the conventional bremsstrahlung radiation (BR) of fast electrons on heavy charges of this cluster are analytically investigated.     

Ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the blowout regime of laser-plasma accelerators

The ion response to relativistic electron bunches in the so called bubble or blowout regime of a laser-plasma accelerator is discussed. In response to the strong fields of the accelerated electrons the ions form a central filament along the laser axis that can be compressed to densities 2 orders of magnitude higher than the initial particle density. A theory of the filament formation and a model of ion self-compression are proposed. It is also shown that in the case of a sharp rear plasma-vacuum interface the ions can be accelerated by a combination of three basic mechanisms. The long time ion evolution that results from the strong electrostatic fields of an electron bunch provides a unique diagnostic of laser-plasma accelerators.     

Analysis of characteristic X-ray generation induced by laser plasma electrons accelerated by an electric field

The results of experiments devoted to the study of spectral, spatial, and time characteristics of a spectrally bright point x-ray source based on a vacuum diode with a laser-plasma cathode and a titanium needle anode with a photon energy approximately equal to 4.5 keV are presented. The experimental results revealed a considerable difference between the electron emission from laser plasma in a strong electric field and the explosive electron emission and demonstrated the effectiveness of laser plasma as an electron source. The optimization of the laser radiation power density, the accelerating voltage, and the interelectrode spacing made it possible to create a point x-ray source whose spectral brightness exceeds available sources in the class of small-size pulse x-ray instruments (tubes with explosive cathodes). It has been proved experimentally that the maximum contrast of the characteristic lines of the anode material is attained in the case of an optimal choice of accelerating voltage. The x-ray source has the following parameters: (1) spectral brightness of the K-lines of titanium of the order of 10²¹ photons/cm² s sr keV; (2) emitting region size of 250 mm; and (3) laser pulse duration less than 20 ns.     

Subattosecond (⩽10−18 s) time measurements using coherent X-ray transition radiation

The properties of the coherent x-ray transition radiation (CXTR) produced by intense, short electron beams microbunched in various devices, with periods corresponding to x-ray wavelengths ∼0.02–14 nm and with modulation indices ∼0.001–1, are investigated theoretically. The results of numerical calculations show that, just as in the case of incoherent and coherent transition radiation in the optical and microwave regions, CXTR can be used to study the microbunching processes and may thus find application for beam diagnostics in future x-ray FELs and advanced accelerator technology. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 10, 664–668 (25 November 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Study of hot electrons generated from intense laser-plasma interaction employing Image Plate

Image Plate (IP) is convenient to be used and very suitable for radiation detection because of its advantages such as wide dynamic range, high detective quantum efficiency, ultrahigh sensitivity and superior linearity. The function mechanism and characteristics of IP are introduced in this paper. IP was employed in the study of hot electrons generated from intense laser-plasma interaction. The angular distribution and energy spectrum of hot electrons were measured with IP in the experiments. The results demonstrate that IP is an effective radiation detector for the study of laser-plasma interaction. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 10675164, 60621063, 10334110, 10575129, 10510490, and 10390161), the Funds of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for Key Topics in Innovation Engineering (Grant No. KJCX2-YW-T01) and the National High-Tech ICF Program     

超强激光驱动的辐射反作用力效应与极化粒子加速

光强超过10~(22) W/cm~2的极端超强激光将光与物质的相互作用推进到辐射主导区域,激发高能伽马光子辐射,产生明显的辐射反作用力效应.辐射反作用力可以显著影响强场中带电粒子的动力学行为,并从根本上改变了极端强场区域的激光等离子体相互作用规律.如何理解和验证辐射反作用力效应是强场物理研究的核心内容之一.本文结合该方向的国内外研究进展,论述了辐射反作用力的经典形式与强场量子电动力学的理论计算与模拟方法,详细讨论了单粒子在强场中的反射、量子随机辐射、自旋-辐射耦合等效应,介绍了激光等离子体相互作用中的电子冷却、辐射俘获、高效伽马辐射等机制,并给出了目前辐射反作用力效应的实验验证方法与进展.针对自旋在强场量子电动力学方面的效应,介绍了激光加速产生极化粒子源的方法.     

Laser-driven acceleration of electrons in a partially ionized plasma channel

The generation of quasimonoenergetic electron beams, with energies up to 200 MeV, by a laser-plasma accelerator driven in a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide is investigated. Injection and acceleration of electrons is found to depend sensitively on the delay between the onset of the discharge current and the arrival of the laser pulse. A comparison of spectroscopic and interferometric measurements suggests that injection is assisted by laser ionization of atoms or ions within the channel.     

Acceleration and radiation of externally injected electrons in laser plasma wakefield driven by a Laguerre-Gaussian pulse

By using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, externally injected electron beam acceleration and radiation in donut-like wake fields driven by a Laguerre-Gaussian pulse are investigated. Studies show that in the acceleration process the total charge and azimuthal momenta of electrons can be stably maintained at a distance of a few hundreds of micrometers. Electrons experience low-frequency spiral rotation and high-frequency betatron oscillation, which leads to a synchrotron-like radiation. The radiation spectrum is mainly determined by the betatron motion of electrons. The far field distribution of radiation intensity shows axial symmetry due to the uniform transverse injection and spiral rotation of electrons. Our studies suggest a new way to simultaneously generate hollow electron beam and radiation source from a compact laser plasma accelerator.     

Bremsstrahlung of the free electrons arising in an irradiated specimen

A model of the bremsstrahlung produced by photoelectrons, Auger electrons, and Compton electrons arising in an irradiated specimen is proposed. Calculations have shown that the contribution of the Compton electron bremsstrahlung shows up for monochromatic primary radiation of high-energy photons. For the primary radiation of x-ray tubes, only the bremsstrahlung spectrum of photoelectrons and Auger electrons is significant. The factors affecting the proportions between these components are considered. The bremsstrahlung spectral distribution of the mentioned electrons shows considerable deviations from that predicted by the Kramers theory that are due to the large depth of their occurrence and to the ambiguity of their energy. The region of the spectrum has been determined where the intensity of the electron bremsstrahlung is greater than the intensity of the x-ray tube polychromatic primary radiation scattered by the irradiated object.