Generating 10 GW-class isolated zeptosecond x-ray bursts through bootstrapping two plasma-based accelerator stages

Le résumé fourni par la source

A method is proposed to generate coherent, intense zeptosecond x-ray pulses by using the electron beam produced by a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) stage as the driver for a beam driven plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) stage. The LWFA injector stage requires a readily available 100 TW laser driver to produce a GeV class self-injected electron beam. This beam is focused and used as the driver in a PWFA stage that utilizes a solid-density plasma with a modulated density downramp. The concept is shown to be capable of producing an ultra-short electron beam with unprecedented density ($10^{26}~\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$) and brightness ($ 10^{24}~\ampere/\meter^2/\radian ^2$), that is also pre-bunched on 0.1 Angstrom scales. By colliding this pre-bunched extreme beam with an optical undulator, an intense zeptosecond pulse can be emitted if the spatially focusing region is matched with the lasing region of the beam. Multi-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed of the entire concept to demonstrate that an isolated 10 GW-class zeptosecond pulse with a full-width-half-maximum duration of 700 zs can be generated in a tapered laser pulse. Such an intense zeptosecond pulse generation scheme may provide an essential probe for nuclear physics and quantum electrodynamics processes.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.