Highly efficient laser-driven Compton gamma-ray source

Abstract

The recent advancement of high-intensity lasers has made all-optical Compton scattering become a promising way to produce ultra-short brilliant $\gamma$-rays in an ultra-compact system. However, so far achieved Compton $\gamma$-ray sources are severely limited by low conversion efficiency (lower than $10^{-5}$) and spectral intensity ($\sim 10^4$ $photons/0.1\%BW$). Here we present a highly efficient gamma photon emitter obtained by irradiating a high-intensity laser pulse on a miniature plasma device consisting of a plasma lens and a plasma mirror. This concept exploits strong spatiotemporal laser-shaping process and high-charge electron acceleration process in the plasma lens, as well as an efficient nonlinear Compton scattering process enabled by the plasma mirror. Our particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that in this novel scheme, brilliant $\gamma$-rays with very high conversion efficiency (higher than $10^{-2}$) and spectral intensity ($\sim 10^9$ $photons/0.1\%BW$) can be achieved by employing currently available petawatt-class lasers with intensity of $10^{21}$ $W/c{\mathrm{m}}^2$. Such efficient and intense $\gamma$-ray sources would find applications in wide-ranging areas.

arXiv comment19 pages, 8 figures

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• Collimated gamma-ray beams from structured laser-irradiated targets -- how to increase the efficiency without increasing the laser intensity
• Forward sliding-swing acceleration: electron acceleration by high-intensity lasers in strong plasma magnetic fields
• Extremely Dense Gamma-Ray Pulses in Electron Beam-Multifoil Collisions
• Effective production of gammas, positrons, and photonuclear particles from optimized electron acceleration by short laser pulses in low-density targets
• All-optical nonlinear Breit-Wheeler pair production with $\gamma$-flash photons
• Brilliant attosecond γ-ray emission and high-yield positron production from intense laser-irradiated Nano-Micro array
• Enhanced photon emission from a double-layer target at moderate laser intensities
• A new scheme for isomer pumping and depletion with high-power lasers