title: A bright point source of ultrashort hard x-ray pulses using biological cells.
abstract: We demonstrate that the interaction of intense femtosecond light on a plain solid substrate can be substantially altered by a few micron layer coating of bacterial cells, live or dead. Using E. Coli cells, we show that at an intensity of 10(16)W cm(-2), the bremsstraahlung hard x-ray emission (up to 300 keV), is increased by more than two orders of magnitude as compared to a plain glass slab. Particle-in-cell simulations carried out by modeling the bacterial cells as ellipsoidal particles show that the hot electron generation is indeed enhanced by the presence of microstructures. This new methodology should pave way for using microbiological systems of varied shapes to control intense laser produced plasmas for EUV/x-ray generation.
authors.affiliation: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai, 400 005, India. mkrism@tifr.res.in
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krishnamurthy
authors.forename: Sudipta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mondal
authors.forename: Amit D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Lad
authors.forename: Kartik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bane
authors.forename: Saima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajeev
authors.forename: Gourab
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Prashant Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: G Ravindra
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kundu
authors.forename: Krishanu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ray
mesh_terms: D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology*; D007834:Lasers; D007909:Lenses; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*