Bright X-ray radiation from plasma bubbles in an evolving laser wakefield accelerator

We show that the properties of the electron beam and bright x-rays produced by a laser wakefield accelerator can be predicted if the distance over which the laser self-focuses and compresses prior to self-injection is taken into account. A model based on oscillations of the beam inside a plasma bubble shows that performance is optimised when the plasma length is matched to the laser depletion length. With a 200~TW laser pulse this results in an x-ray beam with median photon energy of \unit[20]{keV}, $> 6\times 10^{8}$ photons above \unit[1]{keV} per shot and a peak brightness of \unit[3 \times 10^{22}]{photons~s^{-1}mrad^{-2}mm^{-2} (0.1\% BW)^{-1}}.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Bright X-ray radiation from plasma bubbles in an evolving laser wakefield accelerator

We show that the properties of the electron beam and bright X-rays produced by a laser wakefield accelerator can be predicted if the distance over which the laser self-focuses and compresses prior to self-injection is taken into account. A model based on oscillations of the beam inside a plasma bubble shows that performance is optimised when the plasma length is matched to the laser depletion length. With a 200~TW laser pulse this results in an X-ray beam with median photon energy of 20 keV, $> 10^{9}$ photons per shot and a peak brightness of $4 \times 10^{23}$ photons s$^{-1}$ mrad$^{-2}$ mm$^{-2}$ (0.1 % BW)$^{-1}$

Bright x-ray radiation from plasma bubbles in an evolving laser wakefield accelerator

We show that the properties of the electron beam and bright x rays produced by a laser wakefield accelerator can be predicted if the distance over which the laser self-focuses and compresses prior to self-injection is taken into account. A model based on oscillations of the beam inside a plasma bubble shows that performance is optimized when the plasma length is matched to the laser depletion length. With a 200 TW laser pulse, this results in an x-ray beam with a median photon energy of 20 keV, > 108 photons above 1 keV per shot, and a peak brightness of 3×1022 photons s-1 mrad-2 mm-2 (0.1% BW)-1

Bright X-ray radiation from plasma bubbles in an evolving laser wakefield accelerator

We show that the properties of the electron beam and bright X-rays produced by a laser wakefield accelerator can be predicted if the distance over which the laser self-focuses and compresses prior to self-injection is taken into account. A model based on oscillations of the beam inside a plasma bubble shows that performance is optimised when the plasma length is matched to the laser depletion length. With a 200~TW laser pulse this results in an X-ray beam with median photon energy of 20 keV, $> 10^{9}$ photons per shot and a peak brightness of $4 \times 10^{23}$ photons s$^{-1}$ mrad$^{-2}$ mm$^{-2}$ (0.1 % BW)$^{-1}$

Producing bright X-rays for imaging applications using a laser wakefield accelerator

We report on the generation of bright multi-keV betatron X-ray radiation using a GeV laser wakefield accelerator and investigate the use of these X-rays for various imaging applications. © 2014 Optical Society of America

Producing bright X-rays for imaging applications using a laser wakefield accelerator

We report on the generation of bright multi-keV betatron X-ray radiation using a GeV laser wakefield accelerator and investigate the use of these X-rays for various imaging applications. © 2014 Optical Society of America