Relativistic interaction of short-pulse lasers with underdense plasmas has recently led to the emergence of a novel generation of femtosecond x-ray sources. Based on radiation from electrons ...accelerated in plasma, these sources have the common properties to be compact and to deliver collimated, incoherent, and femtosecond radiation. In this article, within a unified formalism, the betatron radiation of trapped and accelerated electrons in the so-called bubble regime, the synchrotron radiation of laser-accelerated electrons in usual meter-scale undulators, the nonlinear Thomson scattering from relativistic electrons oscillating in an intense laser field, and the Thomson backscattered radiation of a laser beam by laser-accelerated electrons are reviewed. The underlying physics is presented using ideal models, the relevant parameters are defined, and analytical expressions providing the features of the sources are given. Numerical simulations and a summary of recent experimental results on the different mechanisms are also presented. Each section ends with the foreseen development of each scheme. Finally, one of the most promising applications of laser-plasma accelerators is discussed: the realization of a compact free-electron laser in the x-ray range of the spectrum. In the conclusion, the relevant parameters characterizing each sources are summarized. Considering typical laser-plasma interaction parameters obtained with currently available lasers, examples of the source features are given. The sources are then compared to each other in order to define their field of applications.
One of the major goals of research for laser-plasma accelerators is the realization of compact sources of femtosecond X-rays. In particular, using the modest electron energies obtained with existing ...laser systems, Compton scattering a photon beam off a relativistic electron bunch has been proposed as a source of high-energy and high-brightness photons. However, laser-plasma based approaches to Compton scattering have not, to date, produced X-rays above 1 keV. Here, we present a simple and compact scheme for a Compton source based on the combination of a laser-plasma accelerator and a plasma mirror. This approach is used to produce a broadband spectrum of X-rays extending up to hundreds of keV and with a 10,000-fold increase in brightness over Compton X-ray sources based on conventional accelerators. We anticipate that this technique will lead to compact, high-repetition-rate sources of ultrafast (femtosecond), tunable (X- through gamma-ray) and low-divergence (∼1°) photons from source sizes on the order of a micrometre.
Laser-plasma accelerators can produce high-quality electron beams, up to giga electronvolts in energy, from a centimetre scale device. The properties of the electron beams and the accelerator ...stability are largely determined by the injection stage of electrons into the accelerator. The simplest mechanism of injection is self-injection, in which the wakefield is strong enough to trap cold plasma electrons into the laser wake. The main drawback of this method is its lack of shot-to-shot stability. Here we present experimental and numerical results that demonstrate the existence of two different self-injection mechanisms. Transverse self-injection is shown to lead to low stability and poor-quality electron beams, because of a strong dependence on the intensity profile of the laser pulse. In contrast, longitudinal injection, which is unambiguously observed for the first time, is shown to lead to much more stable acceleration and higher-quality electron beams.
Development of x-ray phase contrast imaging applications with a laboratory scale source have been limited by the long exposure time needed to obtain one image. We demonstrate, using the Betatron ...x-ray radiation produced when electrons are accelerated and wiggled in the laser-wakefield cavity, that a high-quality phase contrast image of a complex object (here, a bee), located in air, can be obtained with a single laser shot. The Betatron x-ray source used in this proof of principle experiment has a source diameter of 1.7 μm and produces a synchrotron spectrum with critical energy E(c)=12.3±2.5 keV and 10⁹ photons per shot in the whole spectrum.
The dynamics of plasma electrons in the focus of a petawatt laser beam are studied via measurements of their x-ray synchrotron radiation. With increasing laser intensity, a forward directed beam of x ...rays extending to 50 keV is observed. The measured x rays are well described in the synchrotron asymptotic limit of electrons oscillating in a plasma channel. The critical energy of the measured synchrotron spectrum is found to scale as the Maxwellian temperature of the simultaneously measured electron spectra. At low laser intensity transverse oscillations are negligible as the electrons are predominantly accelerated axially by the laser generated wakefield. At high laser intensity, electrons are directly accelerated by the laser and enter a highly radiative regime with up to 5% of their energy converted into x rays.
Laser-plasma technology promises a drastic reduction of the size of high-energy electron accelerators. It could make free-electron lasers available to a broad scientific community and push further ...the limits of electron accelerators for high-energy physics. Furthermore, the unique femtosecond nature of the source makes it a promising tool for the study of ultrafast phenomena. However, applications are hindered by the lack of suitable lens to transport this kind of high-current electron beams mainly due to their divergence. Here we show that this issue can be solved by using a laser-plasma lens in which the field gradients are five order of magnitude larger than in conventional optics. We demonstrate a reduction of the divergence by nearly a factor of three, which should allow for an efficient coupling of the beam with a conventional beam transport line.
We report the first experimental demonstration of a laser-driven circularly polarized soft-x-ray laser chain. It has been achieved by seeding a 32.8 nm Kr ix plasma amplifier with a high-order ...harmonic beam, which has been circularly polarized using a four-reflector polarizer. Our measurements testify that the amplified radiation maintains the initial polarization of the seed pulse in good agreement with our Maxwell-Bloch modeling. The resulting fully circular soft-x-ray laser beam exhibits a Gaussian profile and yields about 10^{10} photons per shot, fulfilling the requirements for laboratory-scale photon-demanding application experiments.
Betatron X-ray radiation in laser-plasma accelerators is produced when electrons are accelerated and wiggled in the laser-wakefield cavity. This femtosecond source, producing intense X-ray beams in ...the multi kiloelectronvolt range has been observed at different interaction regime using high power laser from 10 to 100 TW. However, none of the spectral measurement performed were at sufficient resolution, bandwidth and signal to noise ratio to precisely determine the shape of spectra with a single laser shot in order to avoid shot to shot fluctuations. In this letter, the Betatron radiation produced using a 80 TW laser is characterized by using a single photon counting method. We measure in single shot spectra from 8 to 21 keV with a resolution better than 350 eV. The results obtained are in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions and demonstrate the synchrotron type nature of this radiation mechanism. The critical energy is found to be Ec = 5.6 \pm 1 keV for our experimental conditions. In addition, the features of the source at this energy range open novel perspectives for applications in time-resolved X-ray science.
Subtle atomic motion in a Bi crystal excited by a 35 fs-laser pulse has been recovered from the transient reflectivity of an optical probe measured with an accuracy of 10(-5). Analysis shows that a ...novel effect reported here-an initial negative drop in reflectivity-relates to a delicate coherent displacement of atoms by the polarization force during the pulse. We also show that reflectivity oscillations with a frequency coinciding with that of cold Bi are related to optical phonons excited by the electron temperature gradient through electron-phonon coupling.
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