Award Abstract #0502281
International Research Fellowship Program: Laser-Based Femtosecond X-Ray Development and Application

NSF Org:	OISE Office of International Science and Engineering
Initial Amendment Date:	June 22, 2005
Latest Amendment Date:	June 22, 2005
Award Number:	0502281
Award Instrument:	Fellowship
Program Manager:	Susan Parris OISE Office of International Science and Engineering O/D OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Start Date:	June 1, 2005
Expires:	March 31, 2007 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$71938
Investigator(s):	Rahul Shah rahul.shah@ensta.fr (Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	Shah Rahul C Ann Arbor, MI 48104 / -
NSF Program(s):	EAPSI
Field Application(s):	0512205 Xray & Electron Beam Lith
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 5980, 5956, 5918, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	7316

ABSTRACT

0502281

Shah

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.

This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Rahul C. Shah to work with Dr. Antoine Rousse at the Laboratoire Optique Appliquee in Palaiseau, France.

In a little over 100 years, x-rays have become one of the most powerful tools scientists have for peering into atomic scale structures. Among the various techniques, x-ray spectroscopy obviates the need for crystals, a requirement which severely limits range of studies for such atomic visualization. This work pushes x-ray science into dynamical studies of molecules at timescales of hundreds of femtoseconds by (1) developing an ultra-fast, directional, and broadband x-ray source from ultra-intense laser pulses and (2) utilizing it to identify femtosecond rearrangements in a chemical reaction by x-ray spectroscopy. The host site is where laser researchers have developed a 100 Terawatt, 10 Hz laser, and the work will be done in collaboration with Antoine Rousse and the Femtosecond X-ray Physics group, pioneers in the field of ultrafast x-ray source development and diffraction studies. The research more specifically studies the source spectrum by use of crystal spectrometer, and this is correlated with electron beam characteristics as well as plasma density, controlled by the density of the injected helium gas.



Chemistry, biology, and solid state physics are all disciplines which have relied on x-rays for identification of molecular structures. Optical studies have indicated that systems in each of these disciplines evolve at femtosecond timescales but do not provide the structural details of x-rays. Thus this bright source of ultrafast x-rays which is of university laboratory scale stands to have far reaching impact. Demonstration of the usefulness of the source for quantitative x-ray absorption spectroscopy will introduce a valuable new tool, with advantages unique from diffraction techniques, to ultrafast x-ray studies.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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Shah, R., Albert, F., TaPhuoc, K., Shevchenko, O., Boschetto, D., Pukhov, A., Kiselev, Burgy, F., Rousseau J.-P., and Rousse, A..  "Coherence-based transverse measurement of laser-synchrotronx-ray radiation and laser-accelerated electrons,"  Physical Review E, Rapid Communication,  v.74,  2006,  p. 045401R.

Shah, R., TaPhuoc, K., Albert, F., Rousse, A., Burgy, F., Mercier, B., Rousseau J.-P., Pukhov, A., and Kiselev S..  "Development of a collimated keV x-ray beam for probing of dense plasmas,"  Journal de Physique, IV, Proceedings of International Conference on Inertial Fusion Science and Applications,  v.133,  2006,  p. 473.

Ta Phuoc, K., Fitour, R., Tafzi, A., Garl, T., Artemiev, N., Shah, R., Albert, F., Boschetto, D., Rousse, A., Kim, D-E., Pukhov, A., Seredov, V., and Kostyukov, I..  "Demonstration of the ultrafast nature of laser produced betatron radiation,"  Physics of Plasmas,  v.14,  2007,  p. 080701.

TaPhuoc, K., Corde, S., Shah, R., Albert, F., Fitour, R., Rousseau J.-P., Burgy, F., Mercier, B., and Rousse, A..  "Imaging electron trajectories in laser wakefield cavity,"  Physical Review Letters,  v.97,  2006,  p. 225002.


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