Plasma accelerators produce X-rays with tunable parameters
DOI: 10.1063/10.0005833
Plasma accelerators produce X-rays with tunable parameters lead image
Attosecond light sources revolutionized the study of electron motion at the quantum level. Recent research shows beams generated by a plasma wakefield accelerator will produce tunable X-ray pulses with terawatt-level peak power and a less than 100 attosecond pulse duration.
High-harmonic generation in gas and X-ray free electron lasers have been the driving forces in attosecond science. High-harmonic generators can produce ultra-short pulses, as low as 43 attoseconds, with pulse energy in the picojoule range. The X-ray lasers pulse at a much higher energy, around 1 million times greater, and allow wavelength tunability.
Combining the benefits of both these sources, researchers found the plasma wakefield accelerator rivals high-harmonic sources in short pulse durations while increasing power and maintaining the flexibility of X-ray free electron lasers.
Because of the remarkably high peak current and the ultra-short undulator length, the electron beam produced by the plasma accelerator is significantly less sensitive to emittance, energy spread, and angular trajectory jitter. In addition, pulse length and peak power can be tuned to customize X-ray pulse properties as desired for different applications.
“You can use a plasma accelerator to make X-rays with properties that are complementary to those of existing light sources,” said author Claudio Emma.
As state-of-the-art plasma accelerators are further refined to the kilohertz level, the authors foresee a generation of attosecond X-ray pulses that are both high peak and average power.
Future applications of this technology will enable a more in-depth study of nonlinear quantum electrodynamic processes and high-brightness electron/photon science.
Source: “Terawatt attosecond X-ray source driven by a plasma accelerator,” by Claudio Emma, Xinlu Xu, Andrew Fisher, James Paton MacArthur, James Patrick Cryan, Mark Hogan, Pietro Musumeci, Glen White, Agostino Marinelli, and River Robles; APL Photonics (2021). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0050693 .
