Speaker
Christopher David Baird
Description
See the full Abstract at http://ocs.ciemat.es/EPS2018ABS/pdf/P4.2011.pdf
Realising Single Shot Measurements of Radiation Reaction for Inverse
Compton Sources
1 1 2 3 4
C. D. Baird , C. D. Murphy , T. G. Blackburn , A. Ilderton , S. P. D. Mangles , M.
2 1
Marklund , and C. P. Ridgers
1
York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York, York YO10 5DD
2
Department of Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Gothenburg, Sweden
3
Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Plymouth, PL4 7AA
4
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, South Kensington, London SW7 2BZ
Modern, high-intensity laser systems can accelerate electrons to multi-GeV energies in
laser-wakefield schemes. By employing a second, counter-propagating laser, those electrons
can then be used to drive high-brightness X-ray sources via inverse Compton scattering
(ICS). In order to increase the brightness of such sources, it is desirable to increase the
intensity of the scattering laser. This leads to nonlinear ICS where multiple photons interact
with a single electron and radiation reaction (RR) effects where the motion of the electron is
significantly altered by its own emission. At the highest intensities pair production may
occur, providing a laboratory analogue for some of the most extreme environments in the
universe.
Recent experiments have shown that high-intensity laser-plasma experiments can reach
the RR regime [1], however shot-to-shot fluctuations in laser pointing and electron beam
profiles limit the precision with which RR can be measured. Using the 3D PIC code, EPOCH,
we simulate laser-electron collisions and investigate a method for measuring RR effects in a
single laser shot by comparing different regions of an electron bunch post-interaction. With
the aid of improved detection methods, this may allow detailed, on-shot measurements to be
made.
1. Cole, J. M., et al., Physical Review X, 8, 011020 (2018).
2. Arber, T. D., et al., Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 57(11), 113001 (2015)
