Coherent keV backscattering from plasma-wave boosted relativistic electron mirrors

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new regime for laser wakefield acceleration that uses plasma waves to boost relativistic electron mirrors, enabling efficient coherent keV backscattering with moderate laser intensities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel parameter regime combining plasma-wave boosted electron mirrors with sub-petawatt lasers for enhanced backscattering.

Findings

Efficient coherent keV backscattering demonstrated in simulations.

Relativistic electron mirrors can be further accelerated by plasma waves.

Moderate laser intensities suffice for high-energy photon generation.

Abstract

A new parameter regime of laser wakefield acceleration driven by sub-petawatt femotsecond lasers is proposed, which enables the generation of relativistic electron mirrors further accelerated by the plasma wave. Integrated particle-in-cell simulation including the mirror formation and Thomson scattering demonstrates that efficient coherent backscattering up to keV photon energy can be obtained with moderate driver laser intensities and high density gas targets.