A focused very high energy electron beam for fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy

An electron beam of very high energy (50–250 MeV) can potentially produce a more favourable radiotherapy dose distribution compared to a state-of-the-art photon based radiotherapy technique. To produce an electron beam of sufficiently high energy to allow for a long penetration depth (several cm), very large accelerating structures are needed when using conventional radio-frequency technology, which may not be possible due to economical or spatial constraints. In this paper, we show transport and focusing of laser wakefield accelerated electron beams with a maximum energy of 160 MeV using electromagnetic quadrupole magnets in a point-to-point imaging configuration, yielding a spatial uncertainty of less than 0.1 mm, a total charge variation below 1 % and a focal spot of 2.3×2.6mm2. The electron beam was focused to control the depth dose distribution and to improve the dose conformality inside a phantom of cast acrylic slabs and radiochromic film. The phantom was irradiated from 36 different angles to obtain a dose distribution mimicking a stereotactic radiotherapy treatment, with a peak fractional dose of 2.72 Gy and a total maximum dose of 65 Gy. This was achieved with realistic constraints, including 23 cm of propagation through air before any dose deposition in the phantom

A focused very high energy electron beam for fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy

An electron beam of very high energy (50–250 MeV) can potentially produce a more favourable radiotherapy dose distribution compared to a state-of-the-art photon based radiotherapy technique. To produce an electron beam of sufficiently high energy to allow for a long penetration depth (several cm), very large accelerating structures are needed when using conventional radio-frequency technology, which may not be possible due to economical or spatial constraints. In this paper, we show transport and focusing of laser wakefield accelerated electron beams with a maximum energy of 160 MeV using electromagnetic quadrupole magnets in a point-to-point imaging configuration, yielding a spatial uncertainty of less than 0.1 mm, a total charge variation below $1 \%$ and a focal spot of $2.3 \times 2.6\;{\text {mm}}^2$. The electron beam was focused to control the depth dose distribution and to improve the dose conformality inside a phantom of cast acrylic slabs and radiochromic film. The phantom was irradiated from 36 different angles to obtain a dose distribution mimicking a stereotactic radiotherapy treatment, with a peak fractional dose of 2.72 Gy and a total maximum dose of 65 Gy. This was achieved with realistic constraints, including 23 cm of propagation through air before any dose deposition in the phantom

Effects of liquid properties on atomization and spray characteristics studied by planar two-photon fluorescence

In this work, planar two-photon laser-induced fluorescence (2p-LIF) is applied for the first time to analyze the fluid dependent spray structure and atomization behavior of water and ethanol in a quantitative way. A commercial six-hole DISI (Direct-Injection Spark-Ignition) injector was studied at different injection pressures, operated with liquids containing the LIF dye fluorescein. Specifically for DISI-injectors, the fluid-dependent atomization is very complex and not fully understood due to the cavitating, turbulent nozzle flow that dominates the spray formation. Optical access and analysis of the near-nozzle spray are often challenging due to multiple light scattering in dense regions which is reduced by 2p-LIF measurements using a femtosecond laser. This allows high-contrast spray imaging close to the nozzle, resulting in an improved identification of single liquid structures of the spray. Thus, a higher accuracy of sizing is possible. Compared to water, the ethanol spray shape shows increased cone angles in the nozzle near-field of about 6%, which cannot be explained by classical atomization theory based on aerodynamic breakup. The larger cone angle of ethanol was attributed to its larger viscosity, which could decelerate the flow at the wall of the injection hole, affecting the velocity profile of the emerging jet. The atomization shows a main jet breakup distance of 7-10 mm in which the structure sizes decreased drastically, specifically for water. For the size of the liquid structures in the near-nozzle region, which show dimensions of about 80-130 μm, ethanol exhibited about 2% smaller Feret's diameters than water for the tested time steps at 20 MPa. This effect is even more distinct for other injection pressures and positions at a further distance to the injector. For all investigated conditions and measurement positions downstream of the nozzle, ethanol showed on average about 24% smaller structures compared to the water spray. Although this trend is in accordance with the classical atomization theory based on the aerodynamic breakup mechanism, other effects, such as cavitation and nozzle-flow induced breakup, contribute to this behavior.

High-charge relativistic electron bunches from a kHz laser-plasma accelerator

International audienceWe report on electron wakefield acceleration in the resonant bubble regime with few-millijoule near-single-cycle laser pulses at a kilohertz repetition rate. Using very tight focusing of the laser pulse in conjunction with microscale supersonic gas jets, we demonstrate a stable relativistic electron source with a high charge per pulse up to 24  pC/shot. The corresponding average current is 24 nA, making this kilohertz electron source useful for various applications

Simultaneous X-ray absorption and two-photon LIF for imaging the spray formation region

Imaging the spray formation region of atomizing sprays is particularly challenging due to the presence of a variety of irregular liquid structures such as ligaments, liquid blobs, droplets, liquid sheets and a possible liquid core. The number and concentration of those liquid bodies dictate the presence of liquid/air interfaces, which are responsible to undesired scattering effects. The resulting images are blurred, ultimately concealing the real structure of the spray formation region. Due to both, scattering effects and the presence of highly irregular 3D liquid structures, the only reliable measurement of liquid mass in the spray formation region is obtained using X-ray radiography. The generation of collimated X-rays pulsed has been done, in the past, by means of a synchrotron, thus limiting the number of studies that can be performed.In parallel to the use of X-rays, progresses in advanced laser imaging techniques for suppressing multiple scattering issues have been particularly important over the past decade. A very recent solution consists in using 2-photon excitation LIF laser sheet imaging.In this paper, we report for the first time the possibility of simultaneously imaging an atomizing spray using X-ray absorption and 2-photon LIF planar imaging, where the simultaneous single-shot recordings are made over a ~20mmx20mm viewed area. The spray is generated from a commercial fuel port injection system from which, water was injected. The unique illumination/detection scheme proposed here was made possible thanks to the use of X-rays emitted from a laser plasma accelerator (Betatron radiation). For this experiment, we use the High Intensity Laser system at Lund University that provides on target 800mJ, 38fs laser pulses. The emitted X-ray radiation is ranging from 1 to 10keV and peaking at ~2keV. It propagates outside of the vacuum chamber where an X-ray camera records the shadow of the liquid jet. In addition to that, a fraction of the laser pulse ~10mJ is directed on the liquid jet and focuses with a cylindrical lens where it induces fluorescence from a 2-photon excitation process in a dye -here, fluorescein- added to the liquid. The 2p-LIF images provide details on the size and shape of the liquid structures, optically sectioned by the light sheet, while the integrated liquid mass is extracted from the X-ray radiography. This is making the two imaging techniques highly complementary for the characterization of spray systems as well as for further understanding the physics related to liquid atomization

Distribution of Liquid Mass in Transient Sprays Measured Using Laser-Plasma-Driven X-Ray Tomography

We report, the use of laser-plasma-driven x rays to reveal the three-dimensional (3D) structure of a highly atomizing water spray. Soft x rays approximately 5 keV are generated by means of a laser-plasma accelerator. Transmission radiography measurements are performed at different angles, by rotating a multihole injector. Using computer tomography, the local liquid volume distribution and its spatial variation are retrieved in 3D, showing up to 55% liquid fraction at the nozzle outlet, which decreases to below 7% within only 1 mm. The resolution of the liquid volume fraction is 0.5% while the spatial resolution of the radiographic images is 11.5μm. The x-ray source used here provides successful measurements of liquid mass distribution over a relatively large volume and is very promising for the analysis of a variety of challenging transient spray systems, e.g., the injection of liquid synthetic and biofuels used for future clean-combustion applications

A review of recent progress on laser-plasma acceleration at kHz repetition rate

International audienceWe report on recent progress on laser-plasma acceleration using a low energy and high-repetition rate laser system. Using only few milliJoule laser energy, in conjunction with extremely short pulses composed of a single optical cycle, we demonstrate that the laser-plasma accelerator ( LPA) can be operated close to the resonant blowout regime. This results in the production of high charge electron beams (> 10 pC) with peaked energy distributions in the few MeV range and relatively narrow divergence angles. We highlight the importance of the plasma density profile and gas jet design for the performance of the LPA. In this extreme regime of relativistic laser-plasma interaction with near-single-cycle laser pulses, we find that the effect of group velocity dispersion and carrier envelope phase can no longer be neglected. These advances bring LPAs closer to real scientific applications in ultrafast probing

Laser wakefield accelerated electron beams and betatron radiation from multijet gas targets

Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerated (LWFA) electron beams and efficiency of betatron X-ray sources is studied using laser micromachined supersonic gas jet nozzle arrays. Separate sections of the target are used for the injection, acceleration and enhancement of electron oscillation. In this report, we present the results of LWFA and X-ray generation using dynamic gas density grid built by shock-waves of colliding jets. The experiment was done with the 40 TW, 35 fs laser at the Lund Laser Centre. Electron energies of 30–150 MeV and 1.0 × 108–5.5 × 108 photons per shot of betatron radiation have been measured. The implementation of the betatron source with separate regions of LWFA and plasma density grid raised the efficiency of X-ray generation and increased the number of photons per shot by a factor of 2–3 relative to a single-jet gas target source

Photoionization time delay measurement close to a fano resonance using tunable attosecond pulses

We investigate the influence of a Fano resonance on the delays for electron emission in two-photon, near-resonant ionization of argon. The delays were measured using an interferometric method that employed an attosecond pulse train