Compact ultrashort-pulse laser-driven hard-x-ray tube

A compact indirect laser-driven ultrashort electron and hard-x-ray source based on the combination of a high-repetition rate femtosecond laser system with a conventional x-ray tube is demonstrated. The influence of laser parameters on thermionic electron emission and on the hard-x-ray generation efficiency is studied. This source has an outstanding performance in terms of average power, simplicity, handling, and applicability as compared to the sources based on high-power laser-produced plasmas.

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