Manipulating electrons with lasers: the secret to achieve Accelerator and X ray beams

Mastering electrons motion with intense laser pulses allow to shape the transverse or the longitudinal components of the electric field in the plasma medium, permitting either to accelerate electrons to high energy or to wiggle them with a production of energetic photons in the X ray range. The tremendous progresses of laser plasma accelerators [1–4] that produce high quality electron beams in a compact, stable and controllable way [5] has opened new horizons for achieving compact, bright and stable X-ray beam. The quest for compact and bright sources of X-rays [6] is motivated by a constantly growing demand by the scientific community with applications in industry, medicine and basic research. The issue for improving the radiation beam properties from relativistic electrons relies on the ability to force relativistic electrons to oscillate transversally. In synchrotron facilities, periodically assembled static magnets are used to induce such a motion to the electrons. Propagating along a periodic field and oscillating with a given frequency, electrons emit radiation at the frequency that is Doppler up-shifted by a factor 2g_e² from the frequency of their oscillations. I will show here the different mechanisms, such as betatron source [7], all optical Compton source [8], plasma wigglers [9], that we have explored this last decade, using the new concept of laser plasma accelerators that allow to produce such bright X-ray beam [10]. I will show firsts applications for non-destructive material inspection [11] or phase contrast imaging [12] for medical purpose.

[1] V. Malka et al., Science

[1] C. Joshi, Phys. Plasmas, 14(5), 055501, 2007.

[2] E. Esarey et al., Rev. Mod. Phys., 81, 1229–1285, 2009.

[3] V. Malka, Phys. Plasmas, 19(5), 055501, 2012.

[4] S. P. D. Mangles et al., C.G. R. Geddes et al., J. Faure et al., Nature, 431, 2005.

[6] J. Faure et al., Nature, 444, 737–739, 2006.

[7] A. Rousse et al.,  Phys. Rev. Lett. 93,13 (2004).

[8] K. Ta Phuoc et al., Nature Photonics 6, 5 (2012).

[9] I. Andriyash et al., Nature Communications 5, 4736 (2014)

[10] S. Corde et al., Rev. of Mod. Phys., 85,1 (2013)

[11] V. Malka et al., Nature Physics 4, 447 (2008)

[12] S. Fourmaux et al., Opt. Lett. 36, 13 (2011)