Location: G906 Cooley

Title: Novel laser-based sources and how to image them

The generation of electron beams through laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) has advanced significantly over the last 20 years.  Many good examples of applications have been demonstrated, particularly in the realm of keV x-ray imaging.  With electron beams extending beyond a GeV, there is an opportunity to generate far higher energy photon sources which may have applications in heavy industry due to their higher penetration depth.  This move to higher energy comes with challenges in both detection and imaging.

Here I will present experimental and simulation results demonstrating multi-MeV photon sources with some observations on the current limitations of the measurements [1]. I will then show how coded apertures which are imperfectly opaque can still be used to gain spatial information about MeV photon sources [2] and also discuss their application to fusion neutrons.

Chris Murphy
Senior Lecturer in Laser-Plasma Physics

Summary of Expertise:

• High intensity laser-plasma interactions
• Diagnosis of laser-produced plasmas
• XFEL probing of laser driven plasma
• Laser-plasma driven nuclear physics