Ultrafast Imaging of Laser Driven Shock Waves using Betatron X-rays from a Laser Wakefield Accelerator

Betatron radiation from laser wakefield accelerators is an ultrashort pulsed source of hard, synchrotron-like x-ray radiation. It emanates from a centimetre scale plasma accelerator producing GeV level electron beams. In recent years betatron radiation has been developed as a unique source capable o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2018-07, Vol.8 (1), p.11010-10, Article 11010
Main Authors: Wood, J C, Chapman, D J, Poder, K, Lopes, N C, Rutherford, M E, White, T G, Albert, F, Behm, K T, Booth, N, Bryant, J S J, Foster, P S, Glenzer, S, Hill, E, Krushelnick, K, Najmudin, Z, Pollock, B B, Rose, S, Schumaker, W, Scott, R H H, Sherlock, M, Thomas, A G R, Zhao, Z, Eakins, D E, Mangles, S P D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compression
Laser radiation
Lasers
PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
Radiography
Shock
Silicon
Spatial discrimination
X-rays
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Summary:Betatron radiation from laser wakefield accelerators is an ultrashort pulsed source of hard, synchrotron-like x-ray radiation. It emanates from a centimetre scale plasma accelerator producing GeV level electron beams. In recent years betatron radiation has been developed as a unique source capable of producing high resolution x-ray images in compact geometries. However, until now, the short pulse nature of this radiation has not been exploited. This report details the first experiment to utilize betatron radiation to image a rapidly evolving phenomenon by using it to radiograph a laser driven shock wave in a silicon target. The spatial resolution of the image is comparable to what has been achieved in similar experiments at conventional synchrotron light sources. The intrinsic temporal resolution of betatron radiation is below 100 fs, indicating that significantly faster processes could be probed in future without compromising spatial resolution. Quantitative measurements of the shock velocity and material density were made from the radiographs recorded during shock compression and were consistent with the established shock response of silicon, as determined with traditional velocimetry approaches. This suggests that future compact betatron imaging beamlines could be useful in the imaging and diagnosis of high-energy-density physics experiments.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-29347-0