Laser-driven high-power X- and gamma-ray ultra-short pulse source

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new high-brightness, ultra-short pulse X-ray and gamma-ray source utilizing a relativistically moving plasma mirror that amplifies and multiplies radiation frequencies through Doppler effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for generating high-energy X-ray and gamma-ray pulses using a flying plasma mirror driven by radiation pressure, leveraging double Doppler effects for frequency multiplication.

Findings

The proposed source can produce ultra-bright, high-frequency radiation.

Frequency multiplication factor is approximately quadruple the square of the mirror's Lorentz factor.

The method enables efficient generation of high-energy photon pulses.

Abstract

A novel ultra-bright high-intensity source of X-ray and gamma radiation is suggested. It is based on the double Doppler effect, where a relativistic flying mirror reflects a counter-propagating electromagnetic radiation causing its frequency multiplication and intensification, and on the inverse double Doppler effect, where the mirror acquires energy from an ultra-intense co-propagating electromagnetic wave. The role of the flying mirror is played by a high-density thin plasma slab accelerating in the radiation pressure dominant regime. Frequencies of high harmonics generated at the flying mirror by a relativistically strong counter-propagating radiation undergo multiplication with the same factor as the fundamental frequency of the reflected radiation, approximately equal to the quadruple of the square of the mirror Lorentz factor.