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X-ray sources

Lighting up a nest for X-ray emission

Nature Photonics volume 17, pages 129–130 (2023)Cite this article

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Enhancement of laser energy conversion into X-rays is obtained using a target made by entwined carbon nanotubes.

Electromagnetic radiation with sub-nanometre wavelength, corresponding to ‘hard’ X-ray photons with >1 keV energy, is an invaluable tool for the study of matter. Hard X-rays are typically provided to scientists by accelerator-based sources such as synchrotrons and free-electron lasers1,2, which are under continuous improvement. Still, the quest for even more superior performance (for example, smaller wavelength, higher brilliance, shorter duration) and more compact sources stimulates the development of approaches based on laser-plasma acceleration3 exploiting high-power (>100 TW), ultrashort (<1 ps) pulses. Focusing these pulses on matter produces enormous intensities (up to 1027 W m–2 at present) and can lead to copious production of ‘fast’ highly relativistic electrons. In turn, these electrons can produce hard photons either via all-optical schemes (for instance by scattering a counter-propagating laser pulse), when injected in an undulator, or even as a consequence of driving plasma instabilities4. The short electron-bunch duration attainable — down to a few femtoseconds — may allow for a coherent emission of radiation, greatly enhancing the photon yield. Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA), where electrons can be accelerated (currently up to a few GeV energy) while surfing plasma waves, is now the most developed scheme. Preliminary demonstrations of LWFA-based generation of photons with >100 keV energy have shown a brilliance that is higher by orders of magnitude than sources exploiting conventional electron accelerators. At the moment, however, LWFA sources are limited by the low conversion efficiency (<10–5) of the laser energy into hard photons.

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Fig. 1: A laser-irradiated nest-like target brightly emits X-rays after homogenization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR, Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO), Adriano Gozzini laboratory, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Macchi & Francesco Pegoraro

  2. Enrico Fermi Department of Physics, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Macchi & Francesco Pegoraro

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  1. Andrea Macchi
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  2. Francesco Pegoraro
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Correspondence to Andrea Macchi or Francesco Pegoraro.

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Macchi, A., Pegoraro, F. Lighting up a nest for X-ray emission. Nat. Photon. 17, 129–130 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-01146-0

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