Top arrow pointing up

Resources

Resources

Laser-driven high-resolution MeV x-ray tomography

Mar 19, 2025. Publications

Abstract

The need for high-resolution MeV x-ray tomography to observe the three-dimensional structure of dense, large-sized objects is rapidly increasing for the non-destructive evaluation of critical additively manufactured parts, national security, and other applications. We report a demonstration of high-resolution MeV computed tomography of a dense, large object with a laser-driven x-ray source. A record detector-limited MeV radiograph resolution of < 200µm as determined with the Bennett approximation of the point spread function was achieved by irradiating millimeter-thick tungsten targets with 300 TW femtosecond laser pulses at a 0.5 Hz repetition rate. A tungsten alloy step wedge spectrometer indicates that the peak of the x-ray emission is between 1 and 2 MeV, with an endpoint energy of 19 MeV. To illustrate the radiographic imaging capability of the system, a tomographic reconstruction of a nickel superalloy turbine blade (maximum ρr = 139 g/cm2) with sub-millimeter resolution was performed using 2160 individual radiographs. The small x-ray source size opens the prospect of extremely high-resolution tomographs of large, dense objects. This laser-driven approach has major advantages for non-destructive evaluation.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.542536

More From Publications

Apr 17, 2025    Publications

Graphical user interface algorithms to retrieve cylindrically symmetric gas jet and laser-induced plasma densities from interferograms

J. R. dos Santos, A. V. F. Zuffi, N. D. Vieira, E. P. Maldonado, and R. E. Samad. Appl. Opt. 64, 3371 (2025).

Read more

Apr 15, 2025    Publications

Meter-scale supersonic gas jets for multi-GeV laser-plasma accelerators

B. Miao, J. E. Shrock, E. Rockafellow, A. J. Sloss, and H. M. Milchberg. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 96, 043003 (2025).

Read more

Mar 13, 2025    Publications

Modeling and design of compact, permanent-magnet transport systems for highly divergent, broad energy spread laser-driven proton beams

J. De Chant, K. Nakamura, Q. Ji, L. Obst-Huebl, S. Barber, A. M. Snijders, C. G. R. Geddes, J. van Tilborg, A. J....

Read more

Feb 26, 2025    Publications

Angularly resolved spectral reconstruction of x rays via filter pack attenuation

R. Fitzgarrald, J. A. Cardarelli, P. T. Campbell, S. Fourmaux, M. D. Balcazar, A. F. Antoine, N. F. Beier, Q. Qian,...

Read more

Feb 7, 2025    Publications

Compact in-vacuum gamma-ray spectrometer for high-repetition rate PW-class laser–matter interaction

G. Fauvel, K. Tangtartharakul, A. Arefiev, J. De Chant, S. Hakimi, O. Klimo, M. Manuel, A. McIlvenny, K. Nakamura, L....

Read more

Dec 18, 2024    Publications

MeV x-ray production from a Petawatt laser in the regime of a relativistically transparent preplasma, with applications to radiography

J. Strehlow, L. Yin, C.-S. Wong, S.V. Luedtke, S. Palaniyappan, D. J. Stark. C.-K. Huang, A. Bogale, B. Cage, T.A....

Read more