Polychromatic x-ray production in helium from a femtosecond high-intensity laser system

Kim Ta Phuoc (1) , Antoine Rousse (1) , L. Notebaert (1) , M. Pittman (1) , Jean-Philippe Rousseau (1) , Victor Malka (1) , S. Fritzler (1) , Stéphane Sebban (1) , Philippe Balcou (1) , D. Hulin (1) , J.R. Marques (2) , P. G. David (2)

1 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
2 LULI - Laboratoire pour l'utilisation des lasers intenses

Polychromatic x-ray radiation has been produced during the relativistic interaction of a 50-TW femtosecond laser with a helium gas jet. We have characterized the spectrum and the angular distribution of the x-ray emission as well as its dependency on the laser polarization and on the plasma electronic density. We have observed a broad continuous spectrum peaking at 0.15 keV with a significant tail up to 2 keV. The radiation was fairly collimated.

Domains: Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Optics [physics.optics]

Kim Ta Phuoc, Antoine Rousse, L. Notebaert, M. Pittman, Jean-Philippe Rousseau, et al.. Polychromatic x-ray production in helium from a femtosecond high-intensity laser system. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 2003, 20 (1), pp.221-223. ⟨10.1364/JOSAB.20.000221⟩. ⟨hal-00521140⟩