Speaker
Description
In nonlinear Thomson scattering, a relativistic electron reflects and reradiates the photons
of a laser pulse, converting optical light to x rays or beyond. While this extreme frequency
conversion offers a promising source for probing high-energy-density materials and
driving uncharted regimes of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics, conventional nonlinear
Thomson scattering has inherent trade-offs in its scaling with laser intensity. Here we
discover that the ponderomotive control afforded by spatiotemporal pulse shaping enables
novel regimes of nonlinear Thomson scattering that substantially enhance the scaling of
the radiated power, emission angle, and frequency with laser intensity. By appropriately
setting the velocity of the intensity peak, a spatiotemporally shaped pulse can increase the
power radiated by orders of magnitude. The enhanced scaling with laser intensity allows
for operation at significantly lower electron energies and eliminates the need for a high-energy electron accelerator. This material is based upon work supported by the Department
of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration under Award Number DE-NA0003856 and by OFES under Award Number DE-SC0019135 and DE-SC00215057.
