Femtosecond electron and x-ray source based on laser wakefield accelerator

Abstract

A terawatt tabletop laser wakefield acceleration source of relativistic electrons has been developed in our Terawatt Ultrafast High Field Facility (TUHFF). The preliminary results for ultrafast radiolysis of liquid water using this femtosecond electron source are presented. A TUHFF based femtosecond x-ray source is proposed. Thomson scattering of the accelerated electrons off a counterpropagating terawatt laser beam will be used to generate keV x-ray photons. The expected parameters of this x-ray source have been estimated. The short pulse duration, high flux, and good collimation of the resulting x-ray beam would be conducive for ultrafast time-resolved x-ray absorption studies of short-lived transient species in gases, liquids, and solids. It is argued that the solvation dynamics of Br atoms generated in photoinduced electron detachment from aqueous bromide would make a convenient choice for the first pump-probe experiment using this x-ray source.