• Open Access

Nonlinear coherent Thomson scattering from relativistic electron sheets as a means to produce isolated ultrabright attosecond x-ray pulses

H.-C. Wu (武慧春), J. Meyer-ter-Vehn, B. M. Hegelich, and J. C. Fernández
Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 14, 070702 – Published 14 July 2011

Abstract

A new way to generate intense attosecond x-ray pulses is discussed. It relies on coherent Thomson scattering (CTS) from relativistic electron sheets. A double layer technique is used to generate planar solid-density sheets of monochromatic high-γ electrons with zero transverse momentum such that coherently backscattered light is frequency upshifted by factors up to 4γ2. Here previous work [H.-C. Wu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 234801 (2010)] is extended to the regime of high-intensity probe light with normalized amplitude a0>1 leading to nonlinear CTS effects such as pulse contraction and steepening. The results are derived both by particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation in a boosted frame and by analytic theory. PIC simulation shows that powerful x-ray pulses (1 keV, <10   attosecond, and >10   gigawatt) can be generated. They call for experimental verification. Required prerequisites such as manufacture of nanometer-thick target foils is ready and ultrahigh contrast laser pulses should be within reach in the near future.

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  • Received 23 January 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTAB.14.070702

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

H.-C. Wu (武慧春)1,*, J. Meyer-ter-Vehn2, B. M. Hegelich1, and J. C. Fernández1

  • 1Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  • 2Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, D-85748 Garching, Germany

  • *Corresponding author. hcwu@lanl.gov or huichunwu1@gmail.com

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Vol. 14, Iss. 7 — July 2011

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