Quasi-monoenergetic and tunable X-rays from a laser-driven Compton light source

Authors

Nathan D. Powers, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Isaac A. Ghebregziabher, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Grigory V. Golovin, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Cheng Liu, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Shouyuan Chen, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Sudeep Banerjee, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Jun Zhang, University of Nebraska–Lincoln,Follow
Donald P. Umstadter, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

11-2013

Citation

Published in Nature Photonics, Advance Online Publication, http://www.nature.com/naturephotonics doi: 10.1038/NPHOTON.2013.314

Comments

Copyright © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Used by permission.

Abstract

The maximum achievable photon energy of compact, conventional, Compton-scattering X-ray sources is currently limited by the maximum permissible field gradient of conventional electron accelerators. An alternative compact Compton X-ray source architecture with no such limitation is based instead on a high-field-gradient laser–wakefield accelerator. In this case, a single high-power (100 TW) laser system generates intense laser pulses, which are used for both electron acceleration and scattering. Although such all-laser-based sources have been demonstrated to be bright and energetic in proof-of-principle experiments, to date they have lacked several important distinguishing characteristics of conventional Compton sources. We now report the experimental demonstration of all-laser-driven Compton X-rays that are both quasi-monoenergetic (~50% full-width at half-maximum) and tunable (~70 keV to >1 MeV). These performance improvements are highly beneficial for several important X-ray radiological applications.

Includes Supplementary Data.