Intenseγ-Ray Source in the Giant-Dipole-Resonance Range Driven by 10-TW Laser Pulses

Abstract

A gamma-ray source with an intense component around the giant dipole resonance for photonuclear absorption has been obtained via bremsstrahlung of electron bunches driven by a 10-TW tabletop laser. 3D particle-in-cell simulation proves the achievement of a nonlinear regime leading to efficient acceleration of several sequential electron bunches per each laser pulse. The rate of the gamma-ray yield in the giant dipole resonance region (8<E{gamma}<17.5 MeV) was measured, through the radio activation of a gold sample, to be 4 x 10;{8} photons per joule of laser energy. This novel all-optical, compact, and efficient electron-gamma source is suitable for photonuclear studies and medical uses.

Space- and time-resolved observation of extreme laser frequency upshifting during ultrafast-ionization

“…This high intensity stage is very effective for electron acceleration in a non-linear regime (see also Ref. 24 and simulations therein). In this regime, the laser spectrum can be modified by several processes including "photon acceleration" 11 but it is rather insensitive to ionization because laser intensity is too high: only the very leading edge of the pulse is affected by self-phase modulation consequent to ionization.…”

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

“…For instance, by using either higher scattering photon energy (achieved by harmonic conversion) or higher LWFA electron energy, 25, 28 the X-ray energy will soon exceed the threshold for nuclear photo-disintegration (~10 MeV). 14,15 Similarly, lower-bandwidth X-rays will result from using lower-bandwidth electron beams. [20][21][22][23] Finally, the control and stability of the X-ray energy will be substantially improved by recent advances in the degree of control and stability achieved for LWFA electron energy.…”

Brilliant petawatt gamma-ray pulse generation in quantum electrodynamic laser-plasma interaction

“…Laser-driven accelerators offer a cheaper and smaller alternative, and they are now capable of generating bursts of γ -rays10. γ -ray generation has been demonstrated in a number of experiments on laser interactions with solid and gas targets, where the main mechanism is the Bremsstrahlung radiation of fast electrons interacting with high-Z material targets11121314151617. However, due to the small bremsstrahlung cross-section, the conversion efficiency of this scheme is rather low.…”