EAGER: IMR: Compact Source of Coherent X-Rays, Attosecond Electron Pulses, and In-Vacuum Laser Acceleration

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal is for theoretical modeling of approaches to produce coherent X-rays. A coherent light source has the characteristics of a laser, in which the individual photons are "in phase", ie, have their wavelengths all aligned in the same way. This means that absorption or scattering processes are identical for every photon, so that the interpretation of the data is greatly simplified. Coherent sources of photons exist at longer wavelengths, but are only now being pioneered at the 0.1 nm scale. That length scale is an important one, since that is the wavelength range that is characteristic of inter-atomic spacings in materials. Availability of 0.1 nm wavelength radiation sources could lead to major simplifications in atomic scale structural studies.