Narrowband inverse Compton scattering x-ray sources at high laser intensities

Abstract

Narrowband x- and gamma-ray sources based on the inverse Compton scattering of laser pulses suffer from a limitation of the allowed laser intensity due to the onset of nonlinear effects that increase their bandwidth. It has been suggested that laser pulses with a suitable frequency modulation could compensate this ponderomotive broadening and reduce the bandwidth of the spectral lines, which would allow to operate narrowband Compton sources in the high-intensity regime. In this paper we, therefore, present the theory of nonlinear Compton scattering in a frequency modulated intense laser pulse. We systematically derive the optimal frequency modulation of the laser pulse from the scattering matrix element of nonlinear Compton scattering, taking into account the electron spin and recoil. We show that, for some particular scattering angle, an optimized frequency modulation completely cancels the ponderomotive broadening for all harmonics of the backscattered light. We also explore how sensitive this compensation depends on the electron beam energy spread and emittance, as well as the laser focusing.

13 pages, 5 figures; extended list of references and an estimate for the total x-ray photon yield

References in corpus (15)

• Femtosecond x rays from laser-plasma accelerators
• All-optical Compton gamma-ray source
• Ultra-high brilliance multi-MeV $\gamma$-ray beam from non-linear Thomson scattering
• Nonlinear Compton scattering in ultra-short laser pulses
• Quantum radiation reaction effects in multiphoton Compton scattering
• Non-Linear Compton Scattering of Ultrashort and Ultraintense Laser Pulses
• Photon polarisation in electron-seeded pair-creation cascades
• Theoretical and simulation studies of characteristics of a Compton light source
• Nonlinear double Compton scattering in the full quantum regime
• Spectral Bandwidth Reduction of Thomson Scattered Light by Pulse Chirping
• A Lorentz and gauge invariant measure of laser intensity
• Quasi-monoenergetic femtosecond photon sources from Thomson Scattering using laser plasma accelerators and plasma channels
• Structured x-ray beams from twisted electrons by inverse Compton scattering of laser light
• Recursive algorithm for arrays of generalized Bessel functions: Numerical access to Dirac-Volkov solutions
• Global phase and frequency comb structures in nonlinear Compton and Thomson scattering

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Advances in QED with intense background fields
• High Efficiency Gamma-Ray Flash Generation via Multiple Compton Scattering
• Optimizing Laser Pulses for Narrowband Inverse Compton Sources in the High-Intensity Regime
• Two-color above threshold ionization of atoms and ions in XUV Bessel beams and combined with intense laser light
• Strong-field vacuum polarisation with high energy lasers
• A Frenet-Serret Interpretation of Particle Dynamics in High-Intensity Laser Fields
• Towards high photon density for Compton Scattering by spectral chirp