Design study of compact Laser-Electron X-ray Generator for material and life sciences applications

Abstract

X-ray generators utilizing Thomson scattering fill in the gap that exists between conventional and synchrotron-based X-ray sources. They are expected to be more intensive than X-ray tubes and more compact, accessible and less expensive than synchrotrons. In this work, two operation modes of Thomson X-ray source are documented: quasi CW (QCW) and a pulsed one are considered for material sciences and medical applications being implemented currently at Synchrotron Radiation (SR) facilities. The system contains a ~50 MeV linac and a few picosecond laser with an average power ~few hundred Watts. The Thomson X-ray source is able to deliver up to 5·10 11 photons in a millisecond flash and an average flux of 10 12 -10 13 phot/sec. To achieve these parameters with existing optical and accelerator technology, the system must also contain a ring for storage of ebunches for 10 3 -10 5 revolutions and an optical circulator for storage of laser pulses for 10 2 passes. The XAFS spectroscopy, small animal angiography and human noninvasive coronary angiography are considered to be possible applications of the X-ray source.

Design study for a compact laser-driven source for medical x-ray fluorescence imaging

“…In configurations I, III, and IV the laser waist w 0 and duration τ are set according to the theoretical optimum Eq. (21 This optimum is not identical for the different configurations. The interaction length depends on the laser duration and the laser waist determines the spatial distribution of a 0 .…”

“…In recent years, the development of compact TS-based sources has become a wide research field. Different types of sources are investigated, driven by linear accelerators (linacs) [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28], small-size synchrotrons (Lyncean [11,29], ThomX [30,31]) and laser-wakefield acceleration (LWFA) [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

“…The optimum laser waist w 0 (a) and pulse duration τ opt (b) as a function ofâ 0 . Theoretical optimization via Rayleigh-length matching [Eq (19),(21)…”

X-ray Spectrometry

“…A group in Russia studied a new type of X-ray generator utilizing Thomson scattering of laser radiation on a bunch of relativistic electrons and considered that it filled the gap that existed between these two conventional sources. They reported the Thomson X-ray source or compact laser-electron X-ray generator operated in quasicontinuous and pulsed modes (39). The proposed system contained a ∼50 MeV linac and a picosecond laser with an average power of approximately a few hundred watts.…”

Influence of the electron beam emittance on the polarization of a laser-electron x-ray generator

“…Thomson scattering of laser beam photons by moderately relativistic electrons (with energy on the order of tens MeV) has been proposed as a source of hard X-ray radiation in the range of 10-100 keV [1][2][3]. The X-ray radiation from such a source (laser-electron X-ray generator -LEXG) is expected to be tightly collimated and therefore to possess a high spectral brilliance thus making it suitable for a wide range of applications [4,5] including the spectroscopy (EXAFS and XANES) [6], ordinary and phase X-ray tomography [7,8], X-ray structural analysis [9] as well as in biology and medicine [10,11].…”