Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Albert, F.
We report the design and current status of a monoenergetic laser-based Compton scattering 0.5-2.5 MeV {gamma}-ray source. Previous nuclear resonance fluorescence results and future linac and laser developments for the source are presented.
The concepts of matched-beam, self-guided laser propagation and ionization-induced injection have been combined to accelerate electrons up to 1.45 GeV energy in a laser wakefield accelerator. From the spatial and spectral content of the laser light exiting the plasma, we infer that the 60 fs, 110 TW laser pulse is guided and excites a wake over the entire 1.3 cm length of the gas cell at densities below 1.5x10{sup 18} cm{sup -3}. High-energy electrons are observed only when small (3%) amounts of CO{sub 2} gas are added to the He gas. Computer simulations confirm that it is the K-shell electrons of oxygen that are ionized and injected into the wake and accelerated to beyond 1 GeV energy.