Enhanced betatron x-ray emission in a laser wakefield accelerator and wiggler due to collective oscillations of electrons

Abstract

We report x-ray emission caused by betatron motion of electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator driven by high intensity (∼4×10^{19} W/cm^{2}) laser pulse interaction with a 4-mm long helium gas-jet and study the role of collective oscillation of electrons as well as plasma density. The collective oscillations of electrons, inferred from the observed wavy pattern in the electron beam spectrum (up to 300 MeV) led to enhance peak x-ray flux which was found to be further enhanced at higher plasma densities. A similar correlation between the enhancement in x-ray emission and collective oscillation was also observed in nitrogen gas target. Possible physical pictures for the above observations are also suggested and discussed. For the helium gas jet target, the typically observed x-ray source brightness is ≥1×10^{20} photons/s mm^{2} mrad^{2} in 0.1% BW, with a critical energy of 35±5 keV. We have also demonstrated the application of the betatron x-ray source in high-resolution imaging.