We report the high energy radiography of dense material using MeV all-optical-driven inverse Compton x-ray source. The properties of the inverse-Compton x-ray source are controlled by means of electron energy, electron charge, scattering beam focal spot size and pulse duration to obtain optimized x-ray energy and high flux for dense material radiography. In this experiment, the x-ray has a photon energy of 8 MeV for maximal steel penetration depth, and a flux of 1011 x-ray photons per shot. With this novel x-ray source, we are able to demonstrate radiography of a 10 cm thick “kite” object through a steel shielding with thickness up to 40 cm in a single exposure. The radiography image of the “kite” object though the 40 cm steel has signal to noise ratio of 2 and image contrast of 0.1, and the “kite” object can be clearly distinguished in the image. Combining its tunability, ultrafast pulse duration and micron meter resolution, the all-optical-driven inverse Compton x-ray source provides unique capacities for flash radiography of dense material, and is of interest for ultrafast nuclear physics study.
The recent development of a high-brightness MeV-photon source based on inverse-Compton scattering (ICS) has opened
up exciting new possibilities for high-resolution radiography of dense objects. The x-ray beam is extremely bright,
micron-source size, with mrad divergence, and high-spectral density, which makes it ideal for studies where high-resolution
is required. The x-ray source is tunable over a wide range of parameters and we will discuss how the
adjustable source parameters affect both transverse and longitudinal resolution. We then present results on the
radiography of a thick steel object using this ICS source, and demonstrate the capabilities of this source with respect to
operation at high photon energy while providing high spatial resolution.
KEYWORDS: Electrons, X-rays, Electron beams, Plasmas, Argon, Simulation of CCA and DLA aggregates, Pulsed laser operation, Physics, X-ray sources, Synchrotrons
Betatron radiation from the transverse oscillation of laser-wakefield accelerated electrons is very promising for a wide range of applications. Currently, the main limitation of this radiation source is the x-ray photon yield. We present our recent progress in achieving higher photon flux using a clustering gas target instead of the normal gas jet, leading to a 10-fold enhancement. Moreover, we observed monoenergetic electron beams and bright x-rays simultaneously, an occurrence which is considered contradictory, and succeeded in using the betatron radiation as a probe in the evolution of bubble dynamics. These breakthroughs are of great significance for pushing the use of betatron radiation source toward new applications.
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