Enhancement of high energy X-ray radiography using compound parabolic concentrator targets

Abstract

We report an increase in MeV energy bremsstrahlung x-ray production using compound parabolic concentrators (CPC) compared to flat solid targets during relativistic laser-plasma experiments on a 140 J, 150 fs laser system using an f/40 focusing optic. CPC enhanced targets show a >3× increase in high energy x-ray production over planar foil targets. This enhancement in x-ray energy spectra shows a direct improvement in the radiography of an image quality indicator (IQI) object with a 20 g/cm² areal density.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hedp.2022.100978