Laser wakefield accelerated electron beams and betatron radiation from multijet gas targets

Vidmantas Tomkus,Olle Lundh,Valdas Girdauskas,Diego Guénot,Paulius Gečys,Valdemar Stankevič,Gediminas Račiukaitis,Jonas Björklund Svensson,Juozas Dudutis,Isabel Gallardo González,Anders Persson

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-73805-7

Abstract

Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerated (LWFA) electron beams and efficiency of betatron X-ray sources is studied using laser micromachined supersonic gas jet nozzle arrays. Separate sections of the target are used for the injection, acceleration and enhancement of electron oscillation. In this report, we present the results of LWFA and X-ray generation using dynamic gas density grid built by shock-waves of colliding jets. The experiment was done with the 40 TW, 35 fs laser at the Lund Laser Centre. Electron energies of 30–150 MeV and 1.0 × 108–5.5 × 108 photons per shot of betatron radiation have been measured. The implementation of the betatron source with separate regions of LWFA and plasma density grid raised the efficiency of X-ray generation and increased the number of photons per shot by a factor of 2–3 relative to a single-jet gas target source.

Highlights

Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerated (LWFA) electron beams and efficiency of betatron X-ray sources is studied using laser micromachined supersonic gas jet nozzle arrays
We present the experimental results of LWFA and X-ray generation using the 40 TW, 35 fs laser at the Lund Laser Centre using novel multi-stage micronozzles manufactured from a single block of fused silica
The implementation of the nozzle array with separate regions of LWFA and gas density grid raised the efficiency of X-ray generation and increased the number of photons per shot by a factor of 2–3 relative to a single-jet gas target source

Summary

Introduction

Laser Plasma Wakefield Accelerated (LWFA) electron beams and efficiency of betatron X-ray sources is studied using laser micromachined supersonic gas jet nozzle arrays. The implementation of the betatron source with separate regions of LWFA and plasma density grid raised the efficiency of X-ray generation and increased the number of photons per shot by a factor of 2–3 relative to a single-jet gas target source. We present the experimental results of LWFA and X-ray generation using the 40 TW, 35 fs laser at the Lund Laser Centre using novel multi-stage micronozzles manufactured from a single block of fused silica. The charge, energy and divergence of accelerated electrons and efficiency of betatron X-ray radiation were defined by the formation of gas density grid using shock wave interference.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion