High brightness fast electron bunches from an ultracold plasma

Abstract

An ultracold plasma is formed when neutral atoms are first laser-cooled and trapped, then ionised with a laser pulse. Because their initial temperatures are very low, electrons can be extracted to produce a beam which is orders of magnitude more intense than existing sources. We are developing the first ultracold plasma system in Australia, to build an ultrabright electron source with future application as a compact x-ray source for coherent x-ray imaging. © Optical Society of America.