Project Details
Projekt
Generation, diagnostics, and optimization of keV X-ray-pulses with a high-power sub-10-fs-laser
Applicant
Professor Dr. Georg Pretzler
Subject Area
Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
Term
from 2002 to 2007
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5373773
The proposed project will deal with the laser-driven generation of keV X-rays via laser-matter interaction. A new type of high-power-laser will be used with a pulse duration below 10 fs. New and changed interaction phenomena are expected with such laser pulses which will be investigated with respect to X-ray generation. keV-X-rays will be generated either as characteristic radiation (K-alpha) or as bremsstrahlung continuum, and the generation mechanisms will be investigated and optimized. Special attention is set on the size of this X-ray source which shall be minimized in space and time. The intrinsic possibility to create intense X-ray pulses as short as the laser pulse (sub-10 fs) - shorter than with any other method - is a main task to be pursued. Special diagnostics is necessary for this work with high resolution in the spectral, spatial, and temporal regimes. Such diagnostics shall be developed and refined in this project as well. The generated X-rays are unique in their properties and, most of all, allow for accurately synchronized pump-probe experiments required for investigating ultrafast structural changes in solid matter. We plan to initiate such applications using the laser-generated X-rays with cooperation partners at Duesseldorf University and within the Priority Programme.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
