S. G. Anderson

Isotope-specific detection of low-density materials with laser-based monoenergetic gamma-rays.

What we believe to be the first demonstration of isotope-specific detection of a low-Z and low density object shielded by a high-Z and high-density material using monoenergetic gamma rays is reported. The isotope-specific detection of LiH shielded by Pb and Al is accomplished using the nuclear resonance fluorescence line of L7i at 478 keV. Resonant photons are produced via laser-based Compton scattering. The detection techniques are general, and the confidence level obtained is shown to be superior to that yielded by conventional x-ray and gamma-ray techniques in these situations.

Characterization of a bright, tunable, ultrafast Compton scattering X-ray source

The Compton scattering of a terawatt-class, femtosecond laser pulse by a high-brightness, relativistic electron beam has been demonstrated as a viable approach toward compact, tunable sources of bright, femtosecond, hard X-ray flashes. The main focus of this article is a detailed description of such a novel X-ray source, namely the PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser–Electron Inter-Action for the Dynamical Evaluation of Structures) facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. PLEIADES has produced first light at 70 keV, thus enabling critical applications, such as advanced backlighting for the National Ignition Facility and in situ time-resolved studies of high- Z materials. To date, the electron beam has been focused down to σ x = σ y = 27 μm rms, at 57 MeV, with 266 pC of charge, a relative energy spread of 0.2%, a normalized horizontal emittance of 3.5 mm·mrad, a normalized vertical emittance of 11 mm·mrad, and a duration of 3 ps rms. The compressed laser pulse energy at focus is 480 mJ, the pulse duration 54 fs Intensity Full Width at Half-Maximum (IFWHM), and the 1/ e 2 radius 36 μm. Initial X rays produced by head-on collisions between the laser and electron beams at a repetition rate of 10 Hz were captured with a cooled CCD using a CsI scintillator; the peak photon energy was approximately 78 keV, and the observed angular distribution was found to agree very well with three-dimensional codes. The current X-ray dose is 3 × 10 6 photons per pulse, and the inferred peak brightness exceeds 10 15 photons/(mm 2 × mrad 2 × s × 0.1% bandwidth). Spectral measurements using calibrated foils of variable thickness are consistent with theory. Measurements of the X-ray dose as a function of the delay between the laser and electron beams show a 24-ps full width at half maximum (FWHM) window, as predicted by theory, in contrast with a measured timing jitter of 1.2 ps, which contributes to the stability of the source. In addition, K -edge radiographs of a Ta foil obtained at different electron beam energies clearly demonstrate the γ 2 -tunability of the source and show very good agreement with the theoretical divergence-angle dependence of the X-ray spectrum. Finally, electron bunch shortening experiments using velocity compression have also been performed and durations as short as 300 fs rms have been observed using coherent transition radiation; the corresponding inferred peak X-ray flux approaches 10 19 photons/s.

Chirped-pulse amplification with narrowband pulses.

We demonstrate a compact hyperdispersion stretcher and compressor pair that permit chirped-pulse amplification in Nd:YAG. We generate 750 mJ, 0.2 nm FWHM, 10 Hz pulses recompressed to an 8 ps near-transform-limited duration. The dispersion-matched pulse compressor and stretcher impart a chirp of 7300 ps/nm, in a 3 m x 1 m footprint.

Precision linac and laser technologies for nuclear photonics gamma-ray sourcesa)

Tunable, high precision gamma-ray sources are under development to enable nuclear photonics, an emerging field of research. This paper focuses on the technological and theoretical challenges related to precision Compton scattering gamma-ray sources. In this scheme, incident laser photons are scattered and Doppler upshifted by a high brightness electron beam to generate tunable and highly collimated gamma-ray pulses. The electron and laser beam parameters can be optimized to achieve the spectral brightness and narrow bandwidth required by nuclear photonics applications. A description of the design of the next generation precision gamma-ray source currently under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is presented, along with the underlying motivations. Within this context, high-gradient X-band technology, used in conjunction with fiber-based photocathode drive laser and diode pumped solid-state interaction laser technologies, will be shown to offer optimal performance for high gamma-ray spe...

Three-dimensional theory of weakly nonlinear Compton scattering

Nonlinear effects are known to occur in light sources when the wiggler parameter, or normalized 4-potential, A=e−AμAμ/m0c, approaches unity. In this paper, it is shown that nonlinear spectral features can appear at arbitrarily low values of A if the fractional bandwidth of the undulator, Δϕ−1, is sufficiently small and satisfies the condition A2Δϕ∼1. Consequences for the spectral brightness of Compton scattering light sources are outlined. Compton and Thomson scattering theories are compared with the Klein–Nishina cross-section formula to highlight differences in the case of narrow band gamma-ray operation. A weakly nonlinear Compton scattering theory is developed in one (plane wave) and three (local plane wave approximation) dimensions. Analytical models are presented and benchmarked against numerical calculations solving the Lorentz force equation with a fourth-order Runge–Kutta algorithm. Finally, narrow band gamma-ray spectra are calculated for realistic laser and electron beams.

High-Energy Scaling of Compton Scattering Light Sources

Summary form only given. No monochromatic (Deltaomega/omega), high-brightness [>1020 photons/(mm2timesmrad2timesstimes0.1% bandwidth)], tunable light sources currently exist above 100 keV. Important applications that would benefit from such new hard X-ray and g-ray sources include: nuclear resonance fluorescence spectroscopy, 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 inversely with the electron beam duration, Deltatau, and the square of its physical emittance, epsiv/gamma, and linearly with the bunch charge and the number of photons in the laser pulse. This gamma2 -scaling shows that for low emittance electron beams (1 nC, 1 mmmiddotmrad, 100 MeV), and tabletop laser systems (1-10 J, 5 ps) the X-ray peak brightness can exceed 1023 photons/(mm2timesmrad2timesstimes0.1% bandwidth) near 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 LLNL/UCLA high gradient inverse free electron laser

We describe the Inverse Free Electron Accelerator currently under construction at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Upon completion of this accelerator, high brightness electrons generated in the photoinjector blowout regime and accelerated to 50 MeV by S-band accelerating sections will interact with > 4 TW peak power Ti:Sapphire laser in a highly tapered 50 cm undulator and experience an acceleration gradient of > 200 MeV/m. We present the final design of the accelerator as well as the results of start-to-end simulations investigating preservation of beam quality and tolerances involved with this accelerator.

Ultra-High Density Electron Beams for Beam Radiation and Beam Plasma Interaction

Current and future applications of high brightness electron beams, which include advanced accelerators such as the plasma wake-field accelerator (PWFA) and beam-radiation interactions such as inverse-Compton scattering (ICS), require both transverse and longitudinal beam sizes on the order of tens of microns. Ultra-high density beams may be produced at moderate energy (50 MeV) by compression and subsequent strong focusing of low emittance, photoinjector sources. We describe the implementation of this method used at the PLEIADES ICS x-ray source in which the photoinjector-generated beam has been compressed to 300 fsec duration using the velocity bunching technique and focused to 20 μm rms size using an extremely high gradient, permanent magnet quadrupole (PMQ) focusing system.

Pulse compression via velocity bunching with the LLNL Thomson X-ray source photoinjector

We report the compression of a high brightness, relativistic electron beam to rms lengths below 300 femtoseconds using the velocity compression technique in the LLNL Thomson X-ray source photoinjector. The results are consistent with analytical and computational models of this process. The emittance evolution of the beam during compression is investigated in simulation and found to be controllable with solenoid focusing.

Generation of high brightness x-rays with the PLEIADES Thomson x-ray source

The use of short laser pulses to generate high peak intensity, ultra-short 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. PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser Electron InterAction for the Dynamic Evaluation of Structures) is a next generation Thomson scattering x-ray source being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Ultra-fast picosecond x-rays (10-200 keV) are generated by colliding an energetic electron beam (20-100 MeV) with a high intensity, sub-ps, 800 nm laser pulse. The peak brightness of the source is expected to exceed 10/sup 20/ photons/s/0.1% bandwidth/nm/sup 2//mrad/sup 2/. Simulations of the electron beam production, transport, and final focus are presented. Electron beam measurements, including emittance and final focus spot size are also presented and compared to simulation results. Measurements of x-ray production are also reported and compared to theoretical calculations.