Observation of 20 eV x-ray generation in a proof-of-principle laser synchrotron source experiment

Abstract

A laser synchrotron source (LSS) [P. Sprangle, A. Ting, E. Esarey, and A. Fisher, J. Appl. Phys. 72, 5032 (1992)] was proposed to generate short-pulsed, tunable x rays by Thomson scattering of laser photons from a relativistic electron beam. A proof-of-principal (p.o.p.) experiment on this LSS configuration is performed. An intense laser pulse (λ0=1.053 μm) is Thomson backscattered from a focused relativistic electron beam. Time integrated x-ray signals from a photocathode/electron multiplier, at an electron beam energy of 650 keV and an x-ray photon energy of 20 eV, indicate an increase in the x-ray signals above the baseline by an amount comparable to the theoretically predicted value.