RELATIVISTIC THOMSON SCATTERING EXPERIMENT AT BNL - STATUS REPORT.
1.7 x 10{sup 8} x-ray photons per 3.5 ps pulse have been produced in Thomson scattering by focusing CO{sub 2} laser pulse on counter-propagating relativistic electron beam. We explore a possibility of further enhancement of process efficiency by propagating both beams in a plasma capillary. Conventional synchrotron light sources based on using giga-electron-volt electron synchrotron accelerators and magnetic wigglers generate x-ray radiation for versatile application in multi-disciplinary research. An intense laser beam causes relativistic electron oscillations similar to a wiggler. However, because the laser wavelength is thousand times shorter than a wiggler period, very moderate electron energy is needed to produce hard x-rays via Thomson scattering. This allows using relatively compact mega-electron-volt linear accelerators instead of giga-electron-volt synchrotrons. Another important advantage of Thomson sources is a possibility to generate femtosecond x-ray pulses whereas conventional synchrotron sources have typically {approx}300 ps pulse duration. This promises to revolutionize x-ray research in chemistry, physics, and biology expanding it to ultra-fast processes. Thomson sources do not compete in repetition rate and average intensity with conventional light sources that operate at the megahertz frequency. However, Thomson sources have a potential to produce much higher photon numbers per pulse. This may allow developing a single shot exposure important for structural analysis of live biological objects. The BNL Thomson source is a user's experiment conducted at the Accelerator Test Facility since 1998 by an international collaboration in High Energy Physics. Since inception, the ATF source produces the record peak x-ray yield, intensity and brightness among other similar proof-of-principle demonstrations attempted elsewhere. Note that this result is achieved with a moderate laser power of 15 GW. A key to this achievement is in choosing right apparatus and efficient interaction geometry. We use a CO{sub 2} laser that delivers 10 times more photons per unit energy than the 1-{micro}m laser, a high-brightness linac, and the most energy-efficient backscattering interaction geometry. The purpose of this report is to give an update on new results obtained during this year and our near-term plans.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-98CH10886
- OSTI ID:
- 808508
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-69516; R&D Project: PO36; KA1501020; TRN: US0302191
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: LASERS 2001, TUCSON, AZ (US), 12/03/2001--12/07/2001; Other Information: PBD: 3 Dec 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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