Short-Pulse X-Ray Generation via Thomson Scattering in 0° and 90° Interactions

Abstract

Short-pulse X-ray generation was demonstrated in a scattering experiment between a 4 ps electron beam and a 10 ps Nd:YLF laser beam. The beams interacted at 0° and 90°. The X-ray signal was measured using a microchannel plate. Maximum X-ray energy was analytically estimated to be 3.55 keV in the 0° interaction and 1.77 keV in the 90° interaction with a pulse duration of 4 ps for both interactions. Measured X-ray intensities exhibited good linearity with the incident laser light pulse energy for both scattering configurations. The measured X-ray intensity was compared with the intensity analyzed from the beam sizes and energies of both beams. The intensities matched and were of the order of 10 4 photons in the 0° interaction.