A Bright Spatially-Coherent Compact X-ray Synchrotron Source

TL;DR

This paper introduces a compact laser-plasma accelerator that generates a bright, spatially-coherent x-ray source, significantly reducing size and increasing brightness compared to traditional synchrotrons, enabling advanced imaging applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates a novel, compact x-ray source using laser-plasma technology that is brighter and more spatially coherent than previous plasma-based sources.

Findings

X-ray source is >1000 times brighter than previous plasma wigglers.

The source is spatially-coherent and intrinsically ultrafast.

Size is reduced from tens of meters to centimeters.

Abstract

Each successive generation of x-ray machines has opened up new frontiers in science, such as the first radiographs and the determination of the structure of DNA. State-of-the-art x-ray sources can now produce coherent high brightness keV x-rays and promise a new revolution in imaging complex systems on nanometre and femtosecond scales. Despite the demand, only a few dedicated synchrotron facilities exist worldwide, partially due the size and cost of conventional (accelerator) technology. Here we demonstrate the use of a recently developed compact laser-plasma accelerator to produce a well-collimated, spatially-coherent, intrinsically ultrafast source of hard x-rays. This method reduces the size of the synchrotron source from the tens of metres to centimetre scale, accelerating and wiggling a high electron charge simultaneously. This leads to a narrow-energy spread electron beam and x-ray source that is >1000 times brighter than previously reported plasma wiggler and thus has the potential to facilitate a myriad of uses across the whole spectrum of light-source applications.