A tuneable ultra-compact high-power, ultra-short pulsed, bright gamma-ray source based on bremsstrahlung radiation from laser-plasma accelerated electrons

Cipiccia, Silvia; Wiggins, S. M.; Shanks, Richard; Islam, M. R.; Vieux, G.; Issac, R. C.; Brunetti, E.; Ersfeld, Bernhard; Welsh, G. H.; Anania, M. P.; Maneuski, D.; Lemos, Nuno; Bendoyro, R. A.; Rajeev, P. P.; Foster, P. S.; Bourgeois, Nicolas; Ibbotson, T.; Walker, Paul Andreas; Shea, Val O.; Dias, J. M.; Jaroszynski, D. A.

doi:10.1063/1.3693537

Cited by 46 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Progress made on LWFA electron beams now permits the production of tunable gamma-ray sources based on bremsstrahlung. A ∼15 pC, 220 MeV, quasi-monoenergetic electron beam can produce 10 9 photons around 10 MeV [170]. A 300 pC, 1 GeV, electron beam traversing a 1 mm Tungsten target would produce 6 × 10 11 photons/shot, with 0.1% of these having an energy greater than 15 MeV.…”

Section: Bremsstrahlung Produced By Lwfa Electronsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of laser wakefield accelerator-based light sources

Albert

Thomas

2016

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

271

132

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Laser-wakefield accelerators (LWFAs) were proposed more than three decades ago, and while they promise to deliver compact, high energy particle accelerators, they will also provide the scientific community with novel light sources. In a LWFA, where an intense laser pulse focused onto a plasma forms an electromagnetic wave in its wake, electrons can be trapped and are now routinely accelerated to GeV energies. From terahertz radiation to gamma-rays, this article reviews light sources from relativistic electrons produced by LWFAs, and discusses their potential applications. Betatron motion, Compton scattering and undulators respectively produce X-rays or gamma-rays by oscillating relativistic electrons in the wakefield behind the laser pulse, a counterpropagating laser field, or a magnetic undulator. Other LWFA-based light sources include bremsstrahlung and terahertz radiation. We first evaluate the performance of each of these light sources, and compare them with more conventional approaches, including radio frequency accelerators or other laser-driven sources. We have then identified applications, which we discuss in details, in a broad range of fields: medical and biological applications, military, defense and industrial applications, and condensed matter and high energy density science.

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Section: Bremsstrahlung Produced By Lwfa Electronsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of laser wakefield accelerator-based light sources

Albert

Thomas

2016

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

271

132

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“…A wide part of the electromagnetic spectrum is covered in SCAPA by available photon sources, either direct from the plasma or as a secondary source, from high energy gamma rays generated via bremsstrahlung radiation 56,57 to THz radiation, 58,59 the latter being produced with energies as high as tens of millijoules via irradiation of metal foils. 60 For imaging purposes, the small plasma source size leads to excellent image resolution that may be further enhanced by coherent effects, such as in betatron radiation phase-contrast imaging.…”

Section: Application Programmesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application programmes at the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA)

Wiggins

Boyd

Brunetti

et al. 2019

Relativistic Plasma Waves and Particle Beams as Coherent and Incoherent Radiation Sources III

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The Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA) is a research facility dedicated to providing high energy particle beams and high peak brightness radiation pulses for users across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. A pair of Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser systems (40 TW peak power at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate and 350 TW at 5 Hz, respectively) are the drivers for a suite of laser-plasma accelerator beamlines housed across a series of radiation shielded areas. The petawatt-scale laser delivers 45 W of average power, which has established it as a world leader in its class. The University of Strathclyde has had an operational laser wakefield accelerator since 2007 as the centrepiece of the ongoing Advanced Laser Plasma High-energy Accelerators towards X-rays (ALPHA-X) project. SCAPA, which is a multi-partner venture supported by the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, continues the dedicated beamline approach pioneered by ALPHA-X and represents a significant expansion in the UK's experimental capability at the university level in laser-driven acceleration. The new centre supports seven dedicated radiation beamlines across three shielded bunkers that each nominally specialise in different aspects of fundamental laser-plasma interaction physics and radiation sources: GeV-scale electron beams, MeV proton and ion beams, X-rays, gamma rays etc. Development of application programmes based on these sources cover a wide range of fields including nuclear physics, radiotherapy, space radiation reproduction, warm dense matter, high field physics and radioisotope generation.

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“…Laser wakefield acceleration sources focus a high-power laser into a gas capillary and utilise a bremsstrahlung converter foil to generate x-ray emission with very short pulse lengths of 30-40 fs and source size down to ∼30µm [30,31]. The laser-accelerated electron energy in this case is tunable from several hundred MeV up to GeV, generating average Bremsstrahlung radiation of 10-100's MeV when the electron beam is passed through the converter foil [30,26]. However, the beam emission is much more collimated and the photon density is greatly reduced, rendering large field-of-view single pulse exposure image acquisition infeasible.…”

Section: Potential For Nuclear Waste Scanning Facilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating laser-driven Bremsstrahlung radiation sources for imaging and analysis of nuclear waste packages

Jones

Brenner

Stitt

et al. 2016

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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A small scale sample nuclear waste package, consisting of a 28mm diameter uranium penny encased in grout, was imaged by absorption contrast radiography using a single pulse exposure from an x-ray source driven by a highpower laser. The Vulcan laser was used to deliver a focused pulse of photons to a tantalum foil, in order to generate a bright burst of highly penetrating x-rays (with energy >500keV), with a source size of <0.5mm. BAS-TR and BAS-SR image plates were used for image capture, alongside a newly developed Thalium doped Caesium Iodide scintillator-based detector coupled to CCD chips. The uranium penny was clearly resolved to sub-mm accuracy over a 30cm 2 scan area from a single shot acquisition. In addition, neutron generation was demonstrated in situ with the x-ray beam, with a single shot, thus demonstrating the potential for multi-modal criticality testing of waste materials. This feasibility study successfully demonstrated non-destructive radiography of encapsulated, high density, nuclear material. With recent developments of high-power laser systems, to 10Hz operation, a laser-driven multi-modal beamline for waste monitoring applications is envisioned.

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A tuneable ultra-compact high-power, ultra-short pulsed, bright gamma-ray source based on bremsstrahlung radiation from laser-plasma accelerated electrons

Cited by 46 publications

References 35 publications

Applications of laser wakefield accelerator-based light sources

Applications of laser wakefield accelerator-based light sources

Application programmes at the Scottish Centre for the Application of Plasma-based Accelerators (SCAPA)

Evaluating laser-driven Bremsstrahlung radiation sources for imaging and analysis of nuclear waste packages

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