Publications
Final report of LDRD project : compact ultrabright multikilovolt x-ray sources for advanced materials studies, 3D nanoimaging, and attosecond x-ray technology
Experimental evidence and corresponding theoretical analyses have led to the conclusion that the system composed of Xe hollow atom states, that produce a characteristic Xe(L) spontaneous emission spectrum at 1 {at} 2.9 {angstrom} and arise from the excitation of Xe clusters with an intense pulse of 248 nm radiation propagating in a self-trapped plasma channel, closely represents the ideal situation sought for amplification in the multikilovolt region. The key innovation that is central to all aspects of the proposed work is the controlled compression of power to the level ({approx} 10{sup 20} W/cm{sup 3}) corresponding to the maximum achieved by thermonuclear events. Furthermore, since the x-ray power that is produced appears in a coherent form, an entirely new domain of physical interaction is encountered that involves states of matter that are both highly excited and highly ordered. Moreover, these findings lead to the concept of 'photonstaging', an idea which offers the possibility of advancing the power compression by an additional factor of {approx} 10{sup 9} to {approx} 10{sup 29} W/cm{sup 3}. In this completely unexplored regime, g-ray production ({h_bar}{omega}{sub {gamma}} {approx} 1 MeV) is expected to be a leading process. A new technology for the production of very highly penetrating radiation would then be available. The Xe(L) source at {h_bar}{omega}{sub x} {approx} 4.5 keV can be applied immediately to the experimental study of many aspects of the coupling of intense femtosecond x-ray pulses to materials. In a joint collaboration, the UIC group and Sandia plan to explore the following areas. These are specifically, (1) anomalous electromagnetic coupling to solid state materials, (2) 3D nanoimaging of solid matter and hydrated biological materials (e.g. interchromosomal linkers and actin filaments in muscle), and (3) EMP generation with attosecond x-rays.