TY - JOUR

T1 - A plasma wiggler beamline for 100 TW to 10 PW lasers

AU - Kneip, Stefan

AU - Najmudin, Zulfikar

AU - Thomas, Alexander G. R.

PY - 2012/6

Y1 - 2012/6

N2 - We introduce the theoretical framework of laser wakefield acceleration and plasma wiggler radiation generation in the matched regime, give scaling laws and apply the scheme to laser systems planned for the near future. We compare the anticipated electron and x-ray beam parameters for a 100 TW, 1 PW and 10 PW short pulse Ti:Sapphire laser with previous experimental results. Depending on the chosen laser configuration, x-rays from a plasma wiggler beamline (PWB) can be several orders of magnitude brighter than current betatron sources, and comparable to or better than 3rd generation synchrotron facilities. Furthermore, increasing the laser power from 0.1 to 10 PW, the spectral peak of the betatron radiation shifts into the hard x-ray and gamma-ray regime. We also discuss a basic layout of a PWB and motivate 100 TW, 1 PW and 10 PW beamlines with a wide range of uses, experiments and applications. The ability to couple the PWBs with various optical laser drivers has the potential to facilitate uses across the spectrum of light source applications. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

AB - We introduce the theoretical framework of laser wakefield acceleration and plasma wiggler radiation generation in the matched regime, give scaling laws and apply the scheme to laser systems planned for the near future. We compare the anticipated electron and x-ray beam parameters for a 100 TW, 1 PW and 10 PW short pulse Ti:Sapphire laser with previous experimental results. Depending on the chosen laser configuration, x-rays from a plasma wiggler beamline (PWB) can be several orders of magnitude brighter than current betatron sources, and comparable to or better than 3rd generation synchrotron facilities. Furthermore, increasing the laser power from 0.1 to 10 PW, the spectral peak of the betatron radiation shifts into the hard x-ray and gamma-ray regime. We also discuss a basic layout of a PWB and motivate 100 TW, 1 PW and 10 PW beamlines with a wide range of uses, experiments and applications. The ability to couple the PWBs with various optical laser drivers has the potential to facilitate uses across the spectrum of light source applications. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KW - Laser wakefield acceleration

KW - Electron acceleration

KW - Synchrotron radiation

KW - X-ray radiation

KW - NONLINEAR THOMSON SCATTERING

KW - SYNCHROTRON-RADIATION

KW - WAKEFIELD-ACCELERATOR

KW - ELECTRON-BEAMS

KW - BUBBLE REGIME

KW - ION-CHANNEL

KW - TABLE-TOP

KW - X-RAYS

KW - PULSES

KW - GENERATION

U2 - 10.1016/j.hedp.2011.12.001

DO - 10.1016/j.hedp.2011.12.001

M3 - Journal article

VL - 8

SP - 133

EP - 140

JO - High Energy Density Physics

JF - High Energy Density Physics

SN - 1574-1818

IS - 2

ER -