Intense gamma-ray source in the giant-dipole-resonance range driven by 10-TW laser pulses.
A gamma-ray source with an intense component around the giant dipole resonance for photonuclear absorption has been obtained via bremsstrahlung of electron bunches driven by a 10-TW tabletop laser. 3D particle-in-cell simulation proves the achievement of a nonlinear regime leading to efficient acceleration of several sequential electron bunches per each laser pulse. The rate of the gamma-ray yield in the giant dipole resonance region (8<E{gamma}<17.5 MeV) was measured, through the radio activation of a gold sample, to be 4 x 10;{8} photons per joule of laser energy. This novel all-optical, compact, and efficient electron-gamma source is suitable for photonuclear studies and medical uses.
Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory, IPCF, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR Campus, Pisa, Italy.
A
A
Giulietti
N
N
Bourgeois
T
T
Ceccotti
X
X
Davoine
S
S
Dobosz
P
P
D'Oliveira
M
M
Galimberti
J
J
Galy
A
A
Gamucci
D
D
Giulietti
L A
LA
Gizzi
D J
DJ
Hamilton
E
E
Lefebvre
L
L
Labate
J R
JR
Marquès
P
P
Monot
H
H
Popescu
F
F
Réau
G
G
Sarri
P
P
Tomassini
P
P
Martin