Femtosecond X-ray generation through relativistic electron beam–laser interaction

Methods for generating ultra-short X-rays using the interaction of intense laser pulses with relativistic electron beams, and their application to measuring ultra-fast phenomena in solid state materials, are reviewed. Two different methods that use a long electron bunch and short laser pulse are discussed: Thomson scattering and optical slicing which have been implemented on linac and storage ring beams, respectively. The possibility of generating ultrashort electrons bunches from laser-plasma injectors is discussed.     

Traveling-wave Thomson scattering and optical undulators for high-yield EUV and X-ray sources

We present a novel high-yield Thomson scattering geometry that takes advantage of compact electron bunches, as available in advanced, low-emittance linear accelerators or laser wakefield accelerators. In order to avoid the restrictions on the X-ray photon yield imposed by the Rayleigh limit, we use ultrashort, pulse-front tilted laser pulses in a side-scattering geometry. Such a traveling-wave setup allows an overlap of electron and laser beams, even after propagating over distances much longer than the Rayleigh length. Experimental designs are discussed and optimized for different scattering angles. Specifically, to minimize group delay dispersion at large scattering angles >10°, we propose the use of varied-line spacing (VLS) gratings for spatio-temporal laser pulse shaping. Compared to head-on (180°) Thomson scattering, interaction lengths are in the centimeter to meter range and photon numbers for ultrashort X-ray pulses can increase by several orders of magnitudes.     

Generation of femtosecond X-ray pulses via laser–electron beam interaction

The generation of femtosecond X-ray pulses will have important scientific applications by enabling the direct measurement of atomic motion and structural dynamics in condensed matter on the fundamental time scale of a vibrational period. Interaction of femtosecond laser pulses with relativistic electron beams is an effective approach to generating femtosecond pulses of X-rays. In this paper we present recent results from proof-of-principle experiments in which 300 fs pulses are generated from a synchrotron storage ring by using an ultrashort optical pulse to create femtosecond time structure on the stored electron bunch. A previously demonstrated approach for generating femtosecond X-rays via Thomson scattering between terawatt laser pulses and relativistic electrons is reviewed and compared with storage-ring based schemes.     

Electron-beam conditioning by thomson scattering

A method is proposed for conditioning electron beams via Thomson scattering. The conditioning provides a quadratic correlation between the electron energy deviation and the betatron amplitude of the electrons, which results in enhanced gain in free-electron lasers. Quantum effects imply conditioning must occur at high laser fluence and moderate electron energy. Conditioning of x-ray free-electron lasers should be achievable with present laser technology, leading to significant size and cost reductions of these large-scale facilities.     

Panoramic measurements of electron beam densities by Thomson scattering of laser radiation

The possibility of using a panoramic detector with a television signal-recording system in an apparatus to observe Thomson scattering of laser radiation by a nonrelativistic electron beam is discussed. Panoramas of Thomson and Rayleigh scattering and of the electron beam luminescence are presented. Estimates are given of the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the apparatus. Results of panoramic and single-point methods of investigation are compared. Possibilities for extending the range of the Thomson scattering method to measure the density distribution in nonrelativstic electron beams are discussed. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 80–83 (June 1999)     

Attosecond X-ray pulse obtained from linear Thomson scattering

Linear Thomson scattering by a relativistic electron of a short pulse laser has been investigated by computer simulation. Under a laser field with a pulse of 33.3-fs full-width at half-maximum, and the initial energy of an electron of γ₀=10, the motion of the electron is relativistic and generates an ultrashort radiation of 76-as with a photon wave length of 2.5-nm in the backward scattering. The radiation under a high relativistic energy electron has better characteristic than under a low relativistic energy electron in terms of the pulse width and the angular distribution.     

Preliminary experiment of the Thomson scattering X-ray source at Tsinghua University

The X-ray source based on Thomson scattering of ultrashort laser pulse with a relativistic electron beam is a means of generating a tunable, narrow bandwidth and ultrashort pulse of hard X-rays. Such a sub-picosecond hard X-ray source is proposed at Tsinghua University, and a preliminary experiment with a 16 MeV Backward Traveling electron linac and a 1.5 J, 6 ns Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is carried out first. A 6 ns pulse X-ray with a peak energy of 4.6 keV and an intensity of 1.7×104 per pulse is generated successfully in the experiment. The experimental setup, result and discussion are reported in this paper.     

Observation of the second harmonic in Thomson scattering from relativistic electrons

A free relativistic electron in an electromagnetic field is a pure case of a light-matter interaction. In the laboratory environment, this interaction can be realized by colliding laser pulses with electron beams produced from particle accelerators. The process of single photon absorption and reemission by the electron, so-called linear Thomson scattering, results in radiation that is Doppler shifted into the x-ray and gamma-ray regions. At elevated laser intensity, nonlinear effects should come into play when the transverse motion of the electrons induced by the laser beam is relativistic. In the present experiment, we achieved this condition and characterized the second harmonic of Thomson x-ray scattering using the counterpropagation of a 60 MeV electron beam and a subterawatt CO2 laser beam.     

Fluctuation of femtosecond X-ray pulses generated by a laser-Compton scheme

A short-pulse X-ray-generation experiment was performed by Compton scattering through interaction between a 3-ps electron beam and 100-fs laser photons in a 90° scattering configuration. The observed X-ray intensity was typically 3×10⁴ photons/pulse and roughly matched the theoretically expected intensity. The X-ray energy and pulse duration were estimated theoretically to be 2.3 keV and 280 fs from the observed electron- and laser-beam parameters. The fluctuation of the X-ray output was measured as 25% (rms) during a 30-min operation. The fluctuation was expressed as a function of the fluctuation of the timing between the electron and laser beams. The measured fluctuation of the X-rays was approximately consistent with that caused by the fluctuation of the timing between the beams. Received: 19 November 2001 / Revised version: 23 January 2002 / Published online: 14 March 2002     

Magnetic reconnection and plasma dynamics in two-beam laser-solid interactions

We present measurements of a magnetic reconnection in a plasma created by two laser beams (1 ns pulse duration, 1 x 10(15) W cm(-2)) focused in close proximity on a planar solid target. Simultaneous optical probing and proton grid deflectometry reveal two high velocity, collimated outflowing jets and 0.7-1.3 MG magnetic fields at the focal spot edges. Thomson scattering measurements from the reconnection layer are consistent with high electron temperatures in this region.     

建立激光同步辐射源的初步探讨

 进行了基于正对以及离轴几何条件下，电子与激光束间Compton / Thomson散射的激光同步辐射源的初步探讨。运用现有的直线加速器技术以及高功率、高重复频率激光器技术可以为构建超短脉冲的高亮度、准单色、可调谐的X和γ射线源开辟一条新途径。     

周期量级激光脉冲的Thomson散射

用经典辐射理论对线偏振周期量级激光脉冲的线性Thomson散射进行分析，从理论上得到它可产生亚阿秒脉冲的结论. 计算显示，在电子相对论因子为50、激光脉冲中心波长为1μm、归一化光场强度为0.01的情况下，用包含1.5个光周期的激光脉冲，可获得0.2as(半高全宽)的散射脉冲输出. 还对光场载波包络初相φ_ce和电子进入光场的初相φ_in对散射脉冲的影响作了分析讨论，结果表明，在适当的φ_ce和φ_in条件下，能实现单个阿秒脉冲输出，并可对脉冲宽度和频率进行调谐. 关键词： 线性Thomson散射 周期量级激光脉冲 载波包络初相 阿秒脉冲     

全光汤姆逊散射X光源数值模拟

 使用蒙特卡罗数值模拟程序研究了不同电子束和激光强度下,尾场电子束与超短脉冲激光发生汤姆逊散射获得的X光子能谱、角分布等,初步探索了180°散射下高质量X射线光源所需要的电子束与激光强度。数值模拟结果显示,为了尽量提高光子产额并抑制非线性效应,激光归一化强度应为1的量级。为了获得方向性和单色性好、亮度高的X射线脉冲,需要较高的电子能量和较小的电子能散,电子束脉冲尽量短,且发散角尽量小。     

CT-6B托卡马克的红宝石激光90°汤姆逊散射实验

本文描述了CT-B托卡马克的红宝石激光90°汤姆逊散射系统概况,讨论了等离子体的汤姆逊散射谱轮廓、电子温度T_e和电子密度n_e的测量,给出测量结果,并与微波干涉测量结果进行了比较。 关键词：     

电子束放射照相的特性与参数优化

短脉冲强激光产生的电子束具有源尺寸小、脉宽窄、准单能谱等特点, 在放射照相诊断中具有独特作用. 本文通过分析电子在材料中散射并采用蒙特卡罗方法数值模拟, 研究了100 keV到几百MeV能量电子束对有厚度起伏或存在界面的靶的透视, 并与质子、X射线束透视结果比较, 给出了电子束放射照相的特性与参数优化: 基于电子在材料中非弹性散射或能量损失, 选用能量使其射程与靶厚度接近的电子束来诊断靶厚度不均匀性; 基于电子在材料中的弹性散射, 选用射程超过靶厚度的电子束来诊断靶界面.     

Electron Temperatures and Electron Densities in Microwave Helium Discharges with Pressures Higher than 0.1 MPa

We adopted laser Thomson scattering for measuring the electron density and the electron temperature of microwave plasmas produced in helium at the pressures higher than the atmospheric pressure. The electron density decreased while we observed the increase in the electron temperature with the pressure. These are reasonable results by considering the decrease in the reduced electric field, the dominant loss of electrons via three‐body recombination with helium as the third body, and the production of electrons with medium energy via heavy particle collisions at the high gas pressure. The temporal variation of the electron temperature had the rise and the fall time constants of approximately 10 ns. The rapid heating and cooling of the electron temperature are due to the fast energy transfer from electrons to helium because of the high collision frequency in the high‐pressure discharge. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

激光等离子体的电子温度对Thomson散射离子声波双峰的影响

通过对不同激光条件产生的等离子体进行Thomson散射实验诊断，发现在距靶面为150 μm的临界密度面内，离子声波双峰强度出现明显的不对称性，而且强峰的位置发生了转移：当等离子体的电子温度较高时，强峰出现在短波方向；当等离子体电子温度较低时，强峰出现在长波方向.光的拉曼散射效应对应地解释了离子声波的双峰结构、双峰强度不对称性及强峰出现的位置.建立了光的拉曼散射与电子的Thomson散射的对应关系.     

Thomson scattering from ultrashort and ultraintense laser pulses

The Thomson scattering in an ultraintense ( approximately 10(18) W cm(-2)) and ultrashort (20 fs) laser field is calculated that demonstrates different characteristics from those of the low-intensity field case. The electron trajectory no longer conforms to a figure-eight pattern, and the spectra demonstrate complex shifting and broadening to suggest that Thomson scattering can be used for characterizing pulsed lasers. The initial phase at the electron entrance of the field can critically affect the Thomson scattering, but its effect is weighted by the intensity profile of the field. As a result, the fourfold symmetry of the radiation pattern breaks down when the electron enters the field closer to the pulse peak. The relationship between the Thomson scattering and Compton scattering in the high field is analyzed.     

超短激光脉冲驱动的Thomson散射空间分布特性

研究了超短激光脉冲驱动的Thomson散射的辐射空间分布. 发现辐射的空间分布对称性显著地依赖于超短脉冲的载波相位η₀，在η₀＝0，π时，辐射的空间分布呈现出二重或一重对称性；而在其他载波相位时，这些空间分布对称性遭到破坏. 辐射光的准直性也依赖于驱动脉冲的载波相位，在η₀＝±π/2时辐射光的准直性最好. 这些结果表明可以通过改变驱动激光脉冲的载波相位来控制辐射光的空间分布，也可以利用辐射空间分布对相位的依赖特性来测量超短激光脉冲的载波相位. 关键词： Thomson散射 空间分布 载波相位     

基于激光尾场加速的自反射式全光汤姆孙散射的参数优化

基于激光尾场加速的全光汤姆孙散射能够提供高质量X射线束并大大减小装置的尺寸.与分光式相比,自反射式的构架可以降低实验的时空同步难度,但是由于激光尾场电子加速和汤姆孙散射过程耦合, X射线优化难度大,目前缺乏参数优化的相关报道.本文用数值模拟修正解析理论的方法,定量分析了激光尾场电子加速和汤姆孙散射过程中激光和电子束的焦斑、脉宽、能量等参数变化情况,并给出了激光在等离子体镜上的反射率,从而实现了用解析公式计算而非数值模拟跟踪参数变化,在保证精度的同时节约了计算时间.另外,利用修正后的公式优化了给定激光条件下的自反射式全光汤姆孙散射X射线,通过改变等离子体密度和等离子体镜位置这两个参数给出了最优X射线亮度和光子产额,该方法为将来结合人工智能优化控制全光汤姆孙散射光源提供了理论基础.