Experimental Polarization Control of Thomson Scattering X/{\gamma}-ray Source

TL;DR

This study demonstrates experimental control over the polarization of Thomson scattering X/{ extgamma}-ray sources using laser polarization manipulation, with results showing tunability and consistent polarization across a broad energy range.

Contribution

The paper presents the first experimental demonstration of polarization control in Thomson scattering X/{ extgamma}-ray sources, including analysis of polarization via spatial distribution and simulations of Stokes parameters.

Findings

Polarization of X-ray is tunable via laser polarization rotation.

Experimental results confirm controllability of X-ray polarization.

Simulations show polarization remains consistent across a wide energy spectrum.

Abstract

Thomson scattering of intense laser pulses from relativistic electrons allows us to generate high-brightness and tunable-polarization X/{\gamma}-ray pulses. This paper demonstrates the polarization control of the Thomson scattering source experimentally. The polarization of X/{\gamma}-ray is related to incident polarized laser beams, which is controlled by rotating a quarter-wave plate. In the experiment, the polarization of X-ray is determined by recording the spatial distribution of scattered photons, produced by X-ray irradiating on a target. According to modulation curves analysed from experiment results, the conclusion is that the polarization of Thomson scattering source is tunable and controllable. Meanwhile, stokes parameters of X/{\gamma}-ray whose energy varies between tens of keV and MeV are simulated. Considering the paraxial photons, it is showed that the polarization is nearly the same value in a wide range of X-ray energy according to simulation results.