Enhanced Thomson scattering x-ray sources with flying focus laser pulse

X-ray source based on the Thomson scattering of laser interacting with energetic electron beams features high photon energy, small spot size, and good collimation. However, the photon number is insufficient for practical application because of the small cross section of the Thomson scattering. To solve this problem, here, we replace a traditional Gaussian laser pulse with a flying focus laser pulse to extend interaction length and restrain nonlinear effects. Simulation results show that the scattered photon number can be increased by about 25 and 2 times for high and low energy lasers, respectively. In particular, a 1010 photon number can be generated with a 10 J flying focus laser pulse, and the energy spread can also be greatly reduced for high energy laser, from a broad spectrum to a monoenergetic peak. Combining these two advantages, the peak spectrum brightness of x ray is 3 × 108 photons/keV at 240 keV, which is about three orders of magnitude more than the traditional case.

[1]  J. Palastro,et al.  Radiation reaction enhancement in flying focus pulses , 2021, Physical Review A.

[2]  Lai Wei,et al.  Colorless movement of focal spot with arbitrary velocity based on mirrors with special shape , 2021, Physica Scripta.

[3]  Youwei Tian,et al.  Quasi-monochromatic spectral emission characteristics from electron collision with tightly focused laser pulses , 2021, Laser Physics.

[4]  M. Zepf,et al.  Decreasing the bandwidth of linear and nonlinear Thomson scattering radiation for electron bunches with a finite energy spread , 2021, Physical Review Accelerators and Beams.

[5]  A. Di Piazza.  Unveiling the transverse formation length of nonlinear Compton scattering , 2020, 2009.00526.

[6]  G. Krafft,et al.  Improving inverse Compton sources by avoiding non-linearities , 2020, EPL (Europhysics Letters).

[7]  P. Franke,et al.  Dephasingless Laser Wakefield Acceleration. , 2020, Physical review letters.

[8]  A. Debus,et al.  Design study for a compact laser-driven source for medical x-ray fluorescence imaging , 2020, Physical Review Accelerators and Beams.

[9]  Lai Wei,et al.  Uniform long focal depth with centimeter-scale range produced by an aspherical mirror , 2019 .

[10]  D. Turnbull,et al.  Measurement and control of large diameter ionization waves of arbitrary velocity. , 2019, Optics express.

[11]  L. Serafini,et al.  Inverse Compton radiation: a novel x-ray source for K-edge subtraction angiography? , 2019, Physics in medicine and biology.

[12]  R. Widera,et al.  Circumventing the Dephasing and Depletion Limits of Laser-Wakefield Acceleration , 2019, Physical Review X.

[13]  G. Russo,et al.  Numerical simulation of novel concept 4D cardiac microtomography for small rodents based on all-optical Thomson scattering X-ray sources , 2019, Scientific Reports.

[14]  B. Xie,et al.  Nonlinear enhanced effects on Thomson backscattering by magnetic field and amplitude modulating of laser field , 2019, EPL (Europhysics Letters).

[15]  D. Turnbull,et al.  Photon Acceleration in a Flying Focus. , 2019, Physical review letters.

[16]  Johannes Götzfried,et al.  Tunable X-ray source by Thomson scattering during laser-wakefield acceleration , 2019, Optics + Optoelectronics.

[17]  S. Varró,et al.  Isolated attosecond pulses of μJ energy via coherent Thomson-backscattering, driven by a chirped laser pulse , 2019, The European Physical Journal D.

[18]  J. Vieira,et al.  Flying focus: Spatial and temporal control of intensity for laser-based applications , 2019, Physics of Plasmas.

[19]  G. Krafft,et al.  Improving performance of inverse Compton sources through laser chirping , 2019, EPL (Europhysics Letters).

[20]  M. Bussmann,et al.  Building an Optical Free-Electron Laser in the Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering Geometry , 2019, Front. Phys..

[21]  D. Turnbull,et al.  Flying focus and its application to plasma-based laser amplifiers , 2018, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

[22]  D. Turnbull,et al.  Spatiotemporal control of laser intensity , 2018 .

[23]  B. Shadwick,et al.  Optically controlled laser–plasma electron accelerator for compact gamma-ray sources , 2018 .

[24]  F. Grüner,et al.  Diagnostic X-ray sources—present and future , 2018 .

[25]  D. Turnbull,et al.  Ionization waves of arbitrary velocity driven by a flying focus , 2017, 1712.07722.

[26]  F. Quéré,et al.  Controlling the velocity of ultrashort light pulses in vacuum through spatio-temporal couplings , 2017, 1708.06210.

[27]  Wenchao Yan,et al.  High-order multiphoton Thomson scattering , 2017, Nature Photonics.

[28]  F. Albert,et al.  Applications of laser wakefield accelerator-based light sources , 2016 .

[29]  J. Gautier,et al.  An all-optical Compton source for single-exposure x-ray imaging , 2015, 1510.08316.

[30]  K. Nakamura,et al.  Compact quasi-monoenergetic photon sources from laser-plasma accelerators for nuclear detection and characterization ☆ , 2015 .

[31]  C. Geddes,et al.  Controlling the spectral shape of nonlinear Thomson scattering with proper laser chirping , 2014, 1412.2517.

[32]  M. Bussmann,et al.  Optical free-electron lasers with Traveling-Wave Thomson-Scattering , 2014 .

[33]  C. Keitel,et al.  Ultrahigh Brilliance Multi-MeV γ-Ray Beams from Nonlinear Relativistic Thomson Scattering. , 2014, Physical review letters.

[34]  C. Liu,et al.  Quasi-monoenergetic and tunable X-rays from a laser-driven Compton light source , 2013, Nature Photonics.

[35]  S. Chen,et al.  MeV-energy x rays from inverse compton scattering with laser-wakefield accelerated electrons. , 2013, Physical review letters.

[36]  G. Lambert,et al.  Femtosecond x rays from laser-plasma accelerators , 2013, 1301.5066.

[37]  Rajiv C. Shah,et al.  All-optical Compton gamma-ray source , 2012, Nature Photonics.

[38]  B. Quiter.  Transmission Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence Measurements of 238U in Thick Targets , 2011 .

[39]  Michael Bussmann,et al.  Traveling-wave Thomson scattering and optical undulators for high-yield EUV and X-ray sources , 2010 .

[40]  H. J. Lee,et al.  Femtosecond X-ray generation via the Thomson scattering of a terawatt laser from electron bunches produced from the LWFA utilizing a plasma density transition , 2003 .

[41]  Esarey,et al.  Thomson scattering of intense lasers from electron beams at arbitrary interaction angles. , 1995, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.

[42]  Esarey,et al.  Nonlinear Thomson scattering of intense laser pulses from beams and plasmas. , 1993, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics.

[43]  Jun Zhang,et al.  Shielded radiography with a laser-driven MeV-energy X-ray source , 2016 .