Laser-driven electron source suitable for single-shot Gy-scale irradiation of biological cells at dose-rates exceeding $10^{10}$ Gy/s

TL;DR

This paper presents a tunable laser-driven electron source capable of delivering ultra-high dose rates exceeding 10^{10} Gy/s in single shots, enabling new research in biological cell response to intense, rapid radiation exposure.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, tunable laser-driven electron source capable of delivering Gy-scale doses at unprecedented ultra-high dose rates in single shots.

Findings

Single-shot delivery of multi-Gy doses over cm-scale areas

Dose rates in the range of 10^{10} - 10^{12} Gy/s achieved

High spatial uniformity confirmed by Monte-Carlo simulations

Abstract

We report on the first systematic characterisation of a tuneable laser-driven electron source capable of delivering Gy-scale doses in a duration of 10 - 20 ps, thus reaching unprecedented dose rates in the range of $10^{10} - 10^{12}$ Gy/s. Detailed characterisation of the source indicates, in agreement with Monte-Carlo simulations, single-shot delivery of multi-Gy doses per pulse over cm-scale areas, with a high degree of spatial uniformity. The results reported here confirm that a laser-driven source of this kind can be used for systematic studies of the response of biological cells to picosecond-scale radiation at ultra-high dose rates.