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.

[1]  F. Rohrlich,et al.  Positron-Electron Differences in Energy Loss and Multiple Scattering , 1954 .

[2]  Mora,et al.  Observation of modulational instability in Nd-laser beat-wave experiments. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[3]  Esarey,et al.  Envelope analysis of intense laser pulse self-modulation in plasmas. , 1994, Physical review letters.

[4]  Y. Glinec,et al.  A laser–plasma accelerator producing monoenergetic electron beams , 2004, Nature.

[5]  Thomas M. Antonsen,et al.  Self-focusing and Raman scattering of laser pulses in tenuous plasmas. , 1992 .

[6]  V Malka,et al.  Emittance measurements of a laser-wakefield-accelerated electron beam. , 2004, Physical review letters.

[7]  Eric Esarey,et al.  Overview of plasma-based accelerator concepts , 1996 .

[8]  G. W. Forbes.  Optical system assessment for design: numerical ray tracing in the Gaussian pupil , 1988 .

[9]  Martin J. Berger,et al.  Bremsstrahlung energy spectra from electrons with kinetic energy 1 keV–10 GeV incident on screened nuclei and orbital electrons of neutral atoms with Z = 1–100 , 1986 .

[10]  T. Tajima,et al.  Laser Electron Accelerator , 1979 .

[11]  M. Pittman,et al.  Design and characterization of a near-diffraction-limited femtosecond 100-TW 10-Hz high-intensity laser system , 2002 .

[12]  H. Olsen,et al.  Elastic Scattering of Electrons and Positrons by Screened Nuclei , 1966 .

[13]  Zulfikar Najmudin,et al.  Characterization of a gamma-ray source based on a laser-plasma accelerator with applications to radiography , 2002 .

[14]  G. Malka,et al.  Electron Acceleration by a Wake Field Forced by an Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulse , 2002, Science.

[15]  A. E. Dangor,et al.  Monoenergetic beams of relativistic electrons from intense laser–plasma interactions , 2004, Nature.

[16]  J A Antolak,et al.  Dose properties of a laser accelerated electron beam and prospects for clinical application. , 2004, Medical Physics (Lancaster).

[17]  Joyce,et al.  Propagation and guiding of intense laser pulses in plasmas. , 1992, Physical review letters.

[18]  P. G. Thirolf,et al.  Multi-MeV Electron Beam Generation by Direct Laser Acceleration in High-Density Plasma Channels , 1999 .

[19]  S. Wilks,et al.  Hard x-ray production from high intensity laser solid interactions (invited) , 1999 .

[20]  Acceleration and scattering of injected electrons in plasma beat wave accelerator experiments , 1994 .

[21]  J. Cary,et al.  High-quality electron beams from a laser wakefield accelerator using plasma-channel guiding , 2004, Nature.

[22]  N. Andreev,et al.  Resonant excitation of wakefields by a laser pulse in a plasma , 1992 .

[23]  A. E. Dangor,et al.  Electron acceleration from the breaking of relativistic plasma waves , 1995, Nature.