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

Silvia Cipiccia, Mark Wiggins, Richard Shanks, Mohammad Islam, Gregory Vieux, Riju Issac, Enrico Brunetti, Bernhard Ersfeld, Gregor H. Welsh, Maria Pia Anania, Dzmitry Maneuski, Nuno R. C. Lemos, Rodolfo Bendoyro, Pattathil P. Rajeev, P. Foster, Nicola Bourgeois, T. Ibbotson, P. A. Walker, Val O. Shea, João M. DiasDino Jaroszynski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The laser driven plasma wakefield accelerator is a very compact source of high energy electrons.
When the quasi-monoenergetic beam from these accelerators passes through dense material, high
energy bremsstrahlung photons are emitted in a collimated beam with high flux. We show how a
source based on this emission process can produce more than 109 photons per pulse with a mean
energy of 10 MeV. We present experimental results that show the feasibility of this method of
producing high energy photons and compare the experimental results with GEANT4 Montecarlo
simulations, which also give the scaling required to evaluate its suitability as method to produce
radioisotopes via photo-nuclear reactions or for imaging applications.
Original languageEnglish
Article number063302
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume111
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 2012

Keywords

  • tuneable
  • high-power
  • ultra-compact
  • ultra-short pulsed
  • bright gamma-ray source
  • bremsstrahlung radiation
  • laser-plasma
  • accelerated electrons
  • wakefield accelerator
  • wake
  • driven
  • radiography
  • beams
  • x-rays

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