Search Results (19 total)

Inertially confined, ignited thermonuclear D-T plasmas will produce intense blackbody radiation at temperatures T≳20  keV; it is shown that the injection of GeV electrons into the burning core can efficiently generate high-energy Compton scattering photons. Moreover, the spectrum scattered in a small solid angle can be remarkably monochromatic, due to kinematic pileup; a peak brightness in excess of 10³⁰  photons/(mm² mrad² s 0.1% bandwidth) is predicted. These results are discussed within the context of the Schwinger field and the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect.

Recent laser wakefield acceleration experiments have demonstrated the generation of femtosecond, nano-Coulomb, low emittance, nearly monokinetic relativistic electron bunches of sufficient quality to produce bright, tunable, ultrafast x-rays via Compton scattering. Design parameters for a proof-of-concept experiment are presented using a three-dimensional Compton scattering code and a laser-plasma interaction particle-in-cell code modeling the wakefield acceleration process; x-ray fluxes exceeding 10²¹   s^-1 are predicted, with a peak brightness >10¹⁹   photons/(mm² mrad² s   0.1%   bandwidth)).

No monochromatic (Δω_x/ω_x<1%), high peak brightness [>10²⁰   photons/(mm²×mrad²×s×0.1%   bandwidth)], tunable light sources currently exist above 100 keV. Important applications that would benefit from such new hard x-ray and γ-ray sources include the following: nuclear resonance fluorescence spectroscopy and isotopic imaging, time-resolved positron annihilation spectroscopy, and MeV flash radiography. In this paper, the peak brightness of Compton scattering light sources is derived for head-on collisions and found to scale quadratically with the normalized energy, γ; inversely with the electron beam duration, Δτ, and the square of its normalized emittance, ε; and linearly with the bunch charge, eN_e, and the number of photons in the laser pulse, N_γ:   B-^ _x∝γ²N_eN_γ/ε²Δτ. This γ² scaling shows that for low normalized emittance electron beams (1 nC, 1  mm·mrad, <1  ps, >100  MeV), and tabletop laser systems (1–10   J, 5 ps) the x-ray peak brightness can exceed 10²³   photons/(mm²×mrad²×s×0.1%   bandwidth) near ℏω_x=1   MeV; this is confirmed by three-dimensional codes that have been benchmarked against Compton scattering experiments performed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The interaction geometry under consideration is head-on collisions, where the x-ray flash duration is shown to be equal to that of the electron bunch, and which produce the highest peak brightness for compressed electron beams. Important nonlinear effects, including spectral broadening, are also taken into account in our analysis; they show that there is an optimum laser pulse duration in this geometry, of the order of a few picoseconds, in sharp contrast with the initial approach to laser-driven Compton scattering sources where femtosecond laser systems were thought to be mandatory. The analytical expression for the peak on-axis brightness derived here is a powerful tool to efficiently explore the 12-dimensional parameter space corresponding to the phase spaces of both the electron and incident laser beams and to determine optimum conditions for producing high-brightness x rays.

The Dirac-Lorentz equation describes the dynamics of a classical point charge in an electromagnetic field, accounting for radiative effects in a manifestly covariant and gauge-invariant manner. The validity of this equation is assessed by direct comparison between the Dirac-Lorentz dynamics of an electron subjected to a plane wave in vacuum and the well-known recoil associated with Compton scattering. In the small recoil limit, the classical Dirac-Lorentz is shown to yield the correct momentum transfer. For larger values of the recoil, the quantum scale appears explicitly, and the classical Dirac-Lorentz equation does not properly model this situation, as shown by deriving an exact analytical solution for a monochromatic plane wave of wave number k₀ to any order in k₀r₀, where r₀ is the classical electron radius.

The generation of high intensity, ultrashort x-ray pulses enables exciting new experimental capabilities, such as femtosecond pump-probe experiments used to temporally resolve material structural dynamics on atomic time scales. Thomson backscattering of a high intensity laser pulse with a bright relativistic electron bunch is a promising method for producing such high-brightness x-ray pulses in the 10–100 keV range within a compact facility. While a variety of methods for producing subpicosecond x-ray bursts by Thomson scattering exist, including compression of the electron bunch to subpicosecond bunch lengths and/or colliding a subpicosecond laser pulse in a side-on geometry to minimize the interaction time, a promising alternative approach to achieving this goal while maintaining ultrahigh brightness is the production of a time-correlated (or chirped) x-ray pulse in conjunction with pulse slicing or compression. We present the results of a complete analysis of this process using a recently developed 3D time and frequency-domain code for analyzing the spatial, temporal, and spectral properties an x-ray beam produced by relativistic Thomson scattering. Based on the relativistic differential cross section, this code has the capability to calculate time and space dependent spectra of the x-ray photons produced from linear Thomson scattering for both bandwidth-limited and chirped incident laser pulses. Spectral broadening of the scattered x-ray pulse resulting from the incident laser bandwidth, laser focus, and the transverse and longitudinal phase space of the electron beam were examined. Simulations of chirped x-ray pulse production using both a chirped electron beam and a chirped laser pulse are presented. Required electron beam and laser parameters are summarized by investigating the effects of beam emittance, energy spread, and laser bandwidth on the scattered x-ray spectrum. It is shown that sufficient temporal correlation in the scattered x-ray spectrum to produce sub-100 fs temporal slice resolution can be produced from state-of-the-art, high-brightness electron beams without the need to perform longitudinal compression on the electron bunch.

We present a detailed comparison of the measured characteristics of Thomson backscattered x rays produced at the Picosecond Laser-Electron Interaction for the Dynamic Evaluation of Structures facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to predicted results from a newly developed, fully three-dimensional time and frequency-domain code. Based on the relativistic differential cross section, this code has the capability to calculate time and space dependent spectra of the x-ray photons produced from linear Thomson scattering for both bandwidth-limited and chirped incident laser pulses. Spectral broadening of the scattered x-ray pulse resulting from the incident laser bandwidth, perpendicular wave vector components in the laser focus, and the transverse and longitudinal phase spaces of the electron beam are included. Electron beam energy, energy spread, and transverse phase space measurements of the electron beam at the interaction point are presented, and the corresponding predicted x-ray characteristics are determined. In addition, time-integrated measurements of the x rays produced from the interaction are presented and shown to agree well with the simulations.

Wang et al. [Phys. Rev. E 65, 028501 (2002)] claim that an electron interacting in vacuum with a unipolar plane electromagnetic wave will permanently gain energy, thus circumventing the Lawson-Woodward Theorem. We demonstrate that realistic, three-dimensional unipolar impulses cannot permanently impart energy to electrons in vacuum, leaving only the idealistic, one-dimensional, plane-wave impulse as a topic for academic discussion. We also note in passing that the version of the Lawson-Woodward theorem, which they are employing, is an erroneous version that has emerged in the laser acceleration literature over the last decade, and we direct the reader to the relevant papers containing the correct version of the theorem. Finally, we show that both our work and the proposal of Wang et al. are consistent with the correct version of this theory, and that the criticism by Wang et al. is thus without merit.

Detailed experimental studies of the first operation of an X-band (8.547 GHz) rf photoinjector are reported. The rf characteristics of the device are first described, as well as the tuning technique used to ensure operation of the 11 / 2-cell rf gun in the balanced π-mode. The characterization of the photoelectron beam produced by the rf gun includes: measurements of the bunch charge as a function of the laser injection phase, yielding information about the quantum efficiency of the Cu photocathode ( 2×10^-5 for a surface field of 100 MV/m); measurements of the beam energy (1.5–2 MeV) and relative energy spread ( Δγ/γ₀  =  1.8±0.2%) using a magnetic spectrometer; measurements of the beam 90% normalized emittance, which is found to be ɛ_n  =  1.65π mm mrad for a charge of 25 pC; and measurements of the bunch duration ( <2 ps). Coherent synchrotron radiation experiments at Ku-band and Ka-band confirm the extremely short duration of the photoelectron bunch and a peak power scaling quadratically with the bunch charge.

A complete, three-dimensional theory of Compton scattering is described, which fully takes into account the effects of the electron beam emittance and energy spread upon the scattered x-ray spectral brightness. The radiation scattered by an electron subjected to an arbitrary electromagnetic field distribution in vacuum is first derived in the linear regime, and in the absence of radiative corrections; it is found that each vacuum eigenmode gives rise to a single Doppler-shifted classical dipole excitation. This formalism is then applied to Compton scattering in a three-dimensional laser focus, and yields a complete description of the influence of the electron beam phase-space topology on the x-ray spectral brightness; analytical expressions including the effects of emittance and energy spread are also obtained in the one-dimensional limit. Within this framework, the x-ray brightness generated by a 25 MeV electron beam is modeled, fully taking into account the beam emittance and energy spread, as well as the three-dimensional nature of the laser focus; its application to x-ray protein crystallography is outlined. Finally, coherence, harmonics, and radiative corrections are also briefly discussed.

The physics of radiation reaction for a point charge is discussed within the context of classical electrodynamics. The fundamental equations of classical electrodynamics are first symmetrized to include magnetic charges: a double four-potential formalism is introduced, in terms of which the field tensor and its dual are employed to symmetrize Maxwell’s equations and the Lorentz force equation in covariant form. Within this framework, the symmetrized Dirac-Lorentz equation is derived, including radiation reaction (self-force) for a particle possessing both electric and magnetic charge. The connection with electromagnetic duality is outlined, and an in-depth discussion of nonlocal four-momentum conservation for the wave-particle system is given.

The transition from coherent to incoherent laser-driven synchrotron radiation is studied within the framework of a stochastic electron gas model. The fundamental difference between this approach and a relativistic fluid model resides in the fact that, for any number of incoherently phased point electrons, the 4-current contains Fourier components at arbitrarily short wavelengths, whereas the fluid model introduces an unphysical cutoff scale.

The validity of the concept of laser-driven vacuum acceleration has been questioned, based on an extrapolation of the well-known Lawson-Woodward theorem, which stipulates that plane electromagnetic waves cannot accelerate charged particles in vacuum. To formally demonstrate that electrons can indeed be accelerated in vacuum by focusing or diffracting electromagnetic waves, the interaction between a point charge and coherent dipole radiation is studied in detail. The corresponding four-potential exactly satisfies both Maxwell’s equations and the Lorentz gauge condition everywhere, and is analytically tractable. It is found that in the far-field region, where the field distribution closely approximates that of a plane wave, we recover the Lawson-Woodward result, while net acceleration is obtained in the near-field region. The scaling of the energy gain with wave-front curvature and wave amplitude is studied systematically.

The relativistic dynamics of an electron submitted to the three-dimensional field of a focused, ultrahigh-intensity laser pulse are studied numerically. The diffracting field in vacuum is modeled by the paraxial propagator and exactly satisfies the Lorentz gauge condition everywhere. In rectangular coordinates, the electromagnetic field is Fourier transformed into transverse and longitudinal wave packets, and diffraction is described through the different phase shifts accumulated by the various Fourier components, as constrained by the dispersion relation. In cylindrical geometry, the radial dependence of the focusing wave is described as a continuous spectrum of Bessel functions and can be obtained by using Hankel’s integral theorem. To define the boundary conditions for this problem, the beam profile is matched to a Gaussian-Hermite distribution at focus, where the wave front is planar. Plane-wave dynamics are verified for large f numbers, including canonical momentum invariance, while high-energy scattering is predicted for smaller values of f at relativistic laser intensities.

The relativistic dynamics of an electron subjected to the classical electromagnetic field of an ultrashort laser pulse is studied theoretically at arbitrary intensities. Frequency modulation effects associated with the nonlinear relativistic Doppler shift induced on the backscattered radiation are analyzed in detail. For circular polarization, an exact analytical expression for the full nonlinear spectrum is derived. For linear polarization, it is found that the scattering of coherent light by a single electron describing a well-behaved trajectory can yield anharmonic spectra when the laser ponderomotive force strongly modulates the electron’s proper time. At ultrahigh intensities, these nonlinear relativistic spectra exhibit complex structures. In addition, the temporal laser pulse shapes best suited to generate narrow Compton backscattered spectral lines at ultrahigh intensities are discussed. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

The covariant dynamics of a single classical electron subjected to the electromagnetic field of an intense, linearly polarized, ultrashort laser pulse in vacuum is studied in the context of the Dirac-Lorentz equation, which has long been suggested as a possible theory which includes radiative reaction. The Dirac-Lorentz equation is integrated numerically using Dirac's suggestion that the acausal (no runaway) solution should produce physically interesting consequences. This appears to be the case in our Compton scattering calculations, although the exact meaning of the results is not clear.

The relativistic dynamics of electrons subjected to the electromagnetic field of an intense, ultrashort laser pulse in vacuum is studied theoretically. The effects of both finite pulse duration and beam focusing are taken into account. It is found that when the quiver amplitude of the electrons driven by the laser field exceeds the focal spot radius of a Gaussian beam, the restoring force acting on the charge decays exponentially, and the electrons are scattered away from the focus. This physical process, known as ponderomotive scattering, effectively terminates the interaction within a laser wavelength, and the electrons can escape with very high energy, as the normalized laser field is of the order of or greater than unity. The relation between the scattering angle and the escape energy is derived analytically from the conservation of canonical momentum and energy in the photon field. For a linearly polarized laser field, the interaction produces two jets of high energy electrons. The theory is supplemented by detailed two-dimensional computer simulations.

A covariant expression for the instantaneous radiation damping force acting on an accelerated charged particle is derived within the frame of classical electrodynamics. The radiation pressure of the wave emitted by the charge is averaged on a sphere of radius R to obtain the net force due to the photon momentum recoil, and the limit is taken when R tends to zero, assuming no internal structure of the particle. The relativistic Doppler effects break the symmetry of the instantaneous rest frame dipole radiation pattern, and the Abraham-Becker damping force is obtained.

Detailed studies of the spectral characteristics and spatial mode structure of a single-mode, high-power Raman free-electron maser (FEM) oscillator operating with a Bragg resonator are reported. The FEM oscillator generated approximately 1 MW of microwave power in a single axial mode at 27.47 GHz, with an electron beam energy of 320 keV and a transmitted current of 30 A, yielding an efficiency of 10.3%, in good agreement with nonlinear simulations. These results indicate that a Raman free-electron maser can operate at high power and efficiency with stable single-mode output in the long pulse (equilibrium) regime.

The coherent synchrotron radiation process in a waveguide is theoretically investigated. A single, short bunch propagating through a wiggler is considered. In a waveguide, two very distinct regimes are possible. At grazing, where the beam velocity matches the wave group velocity, the bunch emits a single, ultrashort chirped pulse whose duration is determined by the interaction bandwidth and the waveguide dispersion. Away from grazing, where slippage dominates, two distinct pulses are radiated at the Doppler upshifted and downshifted frequencies. Both the time and frequency domain expressions for the radiation characteristics are derived.