2016/01/18 by J. Vieira, J. Martins, Vieira, J. +5
Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph) #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #FOS: Physical sciences #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Radiation Therapy and Dosimetry #physics.acc-ph #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1601.04422
13 pages, 3 figures, submitted for publication
arxiv created 2016/01/18 · openalex publication_date 2016/01/18 · arxiv updated 2016/01/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We explore a plasma based analogue of a helical undulator capable of providing circularly and elliptically polarised betatron radiation. We focus on ionisation injection configurations and in the conditions where the laser pulse driver can force collective betatron oscillations over the whole trapped electron bunch. With an analytical model and by employing three dimensional simulations and radiation calculations, we find that circularly or elliptically polarised laser drivers can force helical betatron oscillations, which produce circularly/elliptically polarised betatron x-rays. We assess the level of polarisation numerically and analytically, and find that the number of circularly polarised photons can be controlled by tuning the laser pulse driver polarisation. We show the production of betatron radiation that is circularly polarised up to < 40% close to regions of maximum photon flux. The total flux of circularly polarised betatron radiation drops for elliptically polarised drivers, and is negligible when using linear polarisation. Our results can be tested today in current experimental facilities.