Abstract
A novel ultra-bright high-intensity source of X-ray and gamma radiation is suggested. It is based on the double Doppler effect, where a relativistic flying mirror reflects a counter-propagating electromagnetic radiation causing its frequency multiplication and intensification, and on the inverse double Doppler effect, where the mirror acquires energy from an ultra-intense co-propagating electromagnetic wave. The role of the flying mirror is played by a high-density thin plasma slab accelerating in the radiation pressure dominant regime. Frequencies of high harmonics generated at the flying mirror by a relativistically strong counter-propagating radiation udergo multiplication with the same factor as the fundamental frequency of the reflected radiation, approximately equal to the quadruple of the square of the mirror Lorentz factor.
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Esirkepov, T., Bulanov, S., Zhidkov, A. et al. High-power laser-driven source of ultra-short X-ray and gamma-ray pulses. Eur. Phys. J. D 55, 457–463 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00172-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00172-y