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Title: Observation of Betatron X-Ray Radiation in a Self-Modulated Laser Wakefield Accelerator Driven with Picosecond Laser Pulses

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [6];  [7];  [5];  [4];  [1];  [3]
  1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
  3. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL) and Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Lisbon (Portugal). Inst. of Plasma and Nuclear Fusion
  7. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Electrical Engineering; Univ. of Lisbon (Portugal). Inst. of Plasma and Nuclear Fusion

American Physical Society. We investigate a new regime for betatron x-ray emission that utilizes kilojoule-class picosecond lasers to drive wakes in plasmas. When such laser pulses with intensities of ~5×1018 W/cm 2 are focused into plasmas with electron densities of ~1×1019 cm -3 , they undergo self-modulation and channeling, which accelerates electrons up to 200 MeV energies and causes those electrons to emit x rays. The measured x-ray spectra are fit with a synchrotron spectrum with a critical energy of 10-20 keV, and 2D particle-in-cell simulations were used to model the acceleration and radiation of the electrons in our experimental conditions.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; AC52-07NA27344; AC02-05CH11231; NA0002950; FWP 100182
OSTI ID:
1361074
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1349547; OSTI ID: 1361583; OSTI ID: 1364532; OSTI ID: 1379784
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-701573; PRLTAO; TRN: US1702739
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 13; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (13)

Radiation emission in laser-wakefields driven by structured laser pulses with orbital angular momentum journal July 2019
Betatron x-ray radiation from laser-plasma accelerators driven by femtosecond and picosecond laser systems journal May 2018
X-ray analysis methods for sources from self-modulated laser wakefield acceleration driven by picosecond lasers journal March 2019
X-ray sources using a picosecond laser driven plasma accelerator journal August 2019
Characterization of high spatial resolution lithium fluoride X-ray detectors journal June 2019
Simulation study of CO 2 laser-plasma interactions and self-modulated wakefield acceleration journal August 2019
High-resolution μCT of a mouse embryo using a compact laser-driven X-ray betatron source journal June 2018
Extremely intense laser-based electron acceleration in a plasma channel journal January 2018
Experimental signatures of direct-laser-acceleration-assisted laser wakefield acceleration journal February 2018
Bremsstrahlung hard x-ray source driven by an electron beam from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator journal March 2018
All-optical generation of petawatt gamma radiation via inverse Compton scattering from laser interaction with tube target journal June 2019
Betatron x-ray radiation in the self-modulated laser wakefield acceleration regime: prospects for a novel probe at large scale laser facilities journal December 2018
High-resolution μCT of a mouse embryo using a compact laser-driven X-ray betatron source text January 2018