Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror
Abstract
We present an in-depth experimental-computational study of the parameters necessary to optimize a tunable, quasi-monoenergetic, efficient, low-background Compton backscattering (CBS) x-ray source that is based on the self-aligned combination of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) and a plasma mirror (PM). The main findings are (1) an LPA driven in the blowout regime by 30 TW, 30 fs laser pulses produce not only a high-quality, tunable, quasi-monoenergetic electron beam, but also a high-quality, relativistically intense (a0 ~ 1) spent drive pulse that remains stable in profile and intensity over the LPA tuning range. (2) A thin plastic film near the gas jet exit retro-reflects the spent drive pulse efficiently into oncoming electrons to produce CBS x-rays without detectable bremsstrahlung background. Meanwhile, anomalous far-field divergence of the retro-reflected light demonstrates relativistic “denting” of the PM. Exploiting these optimized LPA and PM conditions, we demonstrate quasi-monoenergetic (50% FWHM energy spread), tunable (75–200 KeV) CBS x-rays, characteristics previously achieved only on more powerful laser systems by CBS of a split-off, counter-propagating pulse. Moreover, laser-to-x-ray photon conversion efficiency (~6 × 10-12) exceeds that of any previous LPA-based quasi-monoenergetic Compton source. Particle-in-cell simulations agree well with the measurements.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Inst. for Fusion Studies
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Physics and Inst. for Fusion Studies
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Tech-X Corp, Boulder, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); Robert Welch Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1416566
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1228526
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-UT-12444-1
Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012444; SC0011617; SC0007889; SC0010622; FG02-04ER54742; FC52-08NA28512; FA9550-14-1-0045; EP/G056803/1; EP/G054940/1; EP/G055165/1; F-1038. H.-E.T; PHY-1354531
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physics of Plasmas
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 22; Journal Issue: 2; Related Information: Zhengyan Li, Hai-En Tsai, Xi Zhang, C.-H. Pai, R. Zgadzaj, X. Wang, V. Khudik, G. Shvets and M. C. DOWNER,” Single-shot optical visualization of evolving laser wakefields using an all-optical streak camera,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 085001 (2014).H.E. Tsai, X. Wang, J. M. Shaw, Z. Li, A. V. Arefiev, X. Zhang, R. Zgadzaj, W. Henderson, V. Khudik, G. Shvets, and M. C. DOWNER, “Compact tunable Compton x-ray sources from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror,” Phys. Plasmas 22, 023106 (2015).H.-E. Tsai, A. V. Arefiev, J. M. Shaw, D. J. Stark, X. Wang, R. Zgadzaj, M. C. Downer, “Self-aligning concave relativistic plasma mirror with adjustable focus,” Phys. Plasmas 24, 013106 (2017).N. H. Matlis, A. Maksimchuk, Y. Yanovsky, W. P. Leemans, and M. C. Downer, "Analysis of sinusoidally-modulated chirped laser pulses by temporally-encoded spectral shifting," Opt. Lett. 41, 5503 (2016).; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS; 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; plasma; accelerators; optics
Citation Formats
Tsai, Hai-En, Wang, Xiaoming, Shaw, Joseph M., Li, Zhengyan, Arefiev, Alexey V., Zhang, Xi, Zgadzaj, Rafal, Henderson, Watson, Khudik, V., Shvets, G., and Downer, M. C. Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror. United States: N. p., 2015.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.4907655.
Tsai, Hai-En, Wang, Xiaoming, Shaw, Joseph M., Li, Zhengyan, Arefiev, Alexey V., Zhang, Xi, Zgadzaj, Rafal, Henderson, Watson, Khudik, V., Shvets, G., & Downer, M. C. Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4907655
Tsai, Hai-En, Wang, Xiaoming, Shaw, Joseph M., Li, Zhengyan, Arefiev, Alexey V., Zhang, Xi, Zgadzaj, Rafal, Henderson, Watson, Khudik, V., Shvets, G., and Downer, M. C. Fri .
"Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4907655. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1416566.
@article{osti_1416566,
title = {Compact tunable Compton x-ray source from laser-plasma accelerator and plasma mirror},
author = {Tsai, Hai-En and Wang, Xiaoming and Shaw, Joseph M. and Li, Zhengyan and Arefiev, Alexey V. and Zhang, Xi and Zgadzaj, Rafal and Henderson, Watson and Khudik, V. and Shvets, G. and Downer, M. C.},
abstractNote = {We present an in-depth experimental-computational study of the parameters necessary to optimize a tunable, quasi-monoenergetic, efficient, low-background Compton backscattering (CBS) x-ray source that is based on the self-aligned combination of a laser-plasma accelerator (LPA) and a plasma mirror (PM). The main findings are (1) an LPA driven in the blowout regime by 30 TW, 30 fs laser pulses produce not only a high-quality, tunable, quasi-monoenergetic electron beam, but also a high-quality, relativistically intense (a0 ~ 1) spent drive pulse that remains stable in profile and intensity over the LPA tuning range. (2) A thin plastic film near the gas jet exit retro-reflects the spent drive pulse efficiently into oncoming electrons to produce CBS x-rays without detectable bremsstrahlung background. Meanwhile, anomalous far-field divergence of the retro-reflected light demonstrates relativistic “denting” of the PM. Exploiting these optimized LPA and PM conditions, we demonstrate quasi-monoenergetic (50% FWHM energy spread), tunable (75–200 KeV) CBS x-rays, characteristics previously achieved only on more powerful laser systems by CBS of a split-off, counter-propagating pulse. Moreover, laser-to-x-ray photon conversion efficiency (~6 × 10-12) exceeds that of any previous LPA-based quasi-monoenergetic Compton source. Particle-in-cell simulations agree well with the measurements.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4907655},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 2,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Fri Feb 06 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}
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