Bremsstrahlung hard x-ray source driven by an electron beam from a self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator. (22nd March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lemos, N; Albert, F; Shaw, J L; Papp, D; Polanek, R; King, P; Milder, A L; Marsh, K A; Pak, A; Pollock, B B; Hegelich, B M; Moody, J D; Park, J; Tommasini, R; Williams, G J; Chen, Hui; Joshi, C
• Is Part Of: Plasma physics and controlled fusion. Volume 60:Number 5(2018:May)
• Publication Date: 2018-03-22
• Subjects: bremsstrahlung -- x-ray source -- gamma-ray source -- self-modulated laser wakefield accelerator; Plasma (Ionized gases) -- Periodicals; Controlled fusion -- Periodicals; 530.44
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6587/aab3b5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-3335

Abstract

Abstract: An x-ray source generated by an electron beam produced using a Self-Modulated Laser Wakefield Accelerator (SM-LWFA) is explored for use in high energy density science facilities. By colliding the electron beam, with a maximum energy of 380 MeV, total charge of >10 nC and a divergence of 64 × 100 mrad, from a SM-LWFA driven by a 1 ps 120 J laser, into a high-Z foil, an x/gamma-ray source was generated. A broadband bremsstrahlung energy spectrum with temperatures ranging from 0.8 to 2 MeV was measured with an almost 2 orders of magnitude flux increase when compared with other schemes using LWFA. GEANT4 simulations were done to calculate the source size and divergence.