Coherent inverse Compton scattering with attosecond electron bunches accelerated and compressed by radially polarized laser pulses

TL;DR

This paper investigates laser-driven electron acceleration and compression to attosecond durations, enabling coherent inverse Compton scattering for bright x-ray generation, supported by analytical and numerical analysis.

Contribution

It provides new analytical and numerical insights into electron bunch compression and coherent x-ray emission using radially polarized laser pulses.

Findings

Conditions for attosecond electron sheet compression identified

Intermediate emittance minima suitable for x-ray generation predicted

Feasibility demonstrated for realistic laser parameters

Abstract

We present a study of direct laser driven electron acceleration and scaling of attosecond bunch compression in unbound vacuum. Simple analytical expressions and detailed three-dimensional numerical calculations including space charge reveal the conditions for compression to attosecond electron sheets. Intermediate emittance minima suitable for brilliant x-ray generation via coherent inverse Compton scattering (ICS) are predicted. We verify the coherent emission properties of the resulting x-ray fields and demonstrate feasability for realistic laser parameters.