PLEIADES: a picosecond Compton scattering x-ray source for advanced backlighting and time-resolved material studies

Journal Article · Mon Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2003 · Physics of Plasmas

OSTI ID:15013609

Gibson, D J; Anderson, S G; Barty, C P; Betts, S M; Booth, R; Brown, W J; Crane, J K; Cross, R R; Fittinghoff, D N; Hartemann, F V; Kuba, J; Le Sage, G P; Tremaine, A M; Springer, P T; Rosenzweig, J B

The PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser-Electron Inter-Action for the Dynamical Evaluation of Structures) facility has produced first light at 70 keV. This milestone offers a new opportunity to develop laser-driven, compact, tunable x-ray sources for critical applications such as diagnostics for the National Ignition Facility and time-resolved material studies. The electron beam was focused to 50 {micro}m rms, at 57 MeV, with 260 C of charge, a relative energy spread of 0.2%, and a normalized emittance of 5 mm mrad horizontally and 13 mm mrad vertically. The scattered 820-nm laser pulse had an energy of 180 mJ and a duration of 54 fs. Initial x-rays were captured with a cooled charge-coupled device using a Cesium Iodide scintillator; the peak photon energy was approximately 78 keV, with a total x-ray flux of 1.3 x 10{sup 6} photons/shot, and the observed angular distribution found to agree very well with three-dimensional codes. Simple K-edge radiography of a tantalum foil showed good agreement with the theoretical divergence-angle dependence of the x-ray energy. Optimization of the x-ray dose is currently underway, with the goal of reaching 10{sup 8} photons per shot and a peak brightness approaching 10{sup 20} photons/mm{sup 2}/mrad{sup 2}/s/0.1%bandwidth.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 15013609
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JRNL-200521; PHPAEN; TRN: US0600184
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 11, Issue 5; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION
BRIGHTNESS
CESIUM IODIDES
CHARGE-COUPLED DEVICES
COMPTON EFFECT
ELECTRON BEAMS
EVALUATION
LASERS
OPTIMIZATION
PHOTONS
TANTALUM
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY
X-RAY SOURCES