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Advances in Laboratory-based X-Ray Sources, Optics, and Applications VII : [Proceedings] - SPIE, 2019. - ISBN 97815106291349781510629141 - doi:10.1117/12.2530976 Advances in Laboratory-based X-Ray Sources, Optics, and Applications VII, San Diego, United States, 11 Aug 2019 - 15 Aug 2019; SPIE 111100A (2019). doi:10.1117/12.2530976, We provide a pathway to compact ultrabright light sources, based on ultrabright, high energy electron beams emerging from a combination of plasma Wakefield acceleration and plasma photocathodes. While plasma acceleration is known to produce accelerating fields three or four orders of magnitude larger than conventional accelerators, the plasma photocathode allows production of electron beams three or four orders of magnitude brighter than conventional, and thus is suitable to unleash the full potential of plasma accelerators. In particular, this is the case for various types of light sources, which profit enormously from an increased electron beam brightness. Building on the recent first experimental demonstration of the plasma photocathode, in this work we discuss the prospects of plasma photocathodes for key photon source approaches such as x-ray free-electron lasers, betatron radiation, ion-channel lasers and inverse Compton scattering., Published by SPIE

In a plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA), using advanced injection techniques such as the density down-ramp injection is a promising approach for generating electron beams with ultralow emittance. In this study, we describe how such a scheme could be realized using the beam from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) accelerator as a driver. Moreover, we explore the potential applications of such high-brightness e-beams in a facility like LCLS and in novel concepts for compact FELs.

When a highly relativistic electron is injected off-axis into an ion channel, the restoring force of the radial field of the ions will cause the electron to accelerate towards the axis, overshoot, and begin to undergo oscillations about the ioncolumn axis at a characteristic frequency; the betatron frequency. This so-called betatron motion will cause the electron to radiate hard x-rays in the forward direction. In two recent experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), betatron x-rays in the 1-20kV range and in the 1-50MV range were produced with an electron beam with an energy of 28.5 GeV for ion densities of about 1 x 10 14 cm -3 and 1 x 10 17 cm -3 , respectively. To make such an x-ray source more compact, the 3km long SLAC linac would be replaced by a source of electrons from a Laser Wakefield accelerator (LWFA). To increase the efficiency of converting laser into photons at high photon energies, we propose adding a second stage where the LWFA electrons radiate via a second ion channel, independent of the accelerating process. This two stage concept allows one to control the critical frequency of the emitted radiation as well as the efficiency of the process.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Standard (static) CT angiography is used to identify the intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) spot sign. We used dynamic CT-angiography to describe spot sign characteristics and measurement parameters over 60-seconds of image acquisition. METHODS: We prospectively identified consecutive patients presenting with acute ICH within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, and collected whole brain dynamic CT-angiography (dCTA). Spot parameters (earliest appearance, duration, maximum Hounsfield unit (HU), time to maximum HU, time to spot diagnostic definition, spot volume and hematoma volumes) were measured using volumetric analysis software. RESULT: We enrolled 34 patients: three were excluded due to secondary causes of ICH. Of the remaining 31 patients there were 18 females (58%) with median age 70 (range 47-86) and baseline hematoma volume 33 ml (range 0.7-103 ml). Positive dCTA spot sign was present in 13 patients (42%) visualized as an expanding 3-dimensional structure temporally evolving its morphology over the scan period. Median time to spot appearance was 21 s (range 15-35 seconds). This method allowed tracking of spots evolution until the end of venous phase (active extravasation) with median duration of 39 s (range 25-45 seconds). The average density and time to maximum density was 204HU and 30.8 s (range 23-31 s) respectively. Median time to spot diagnosis was 20.8 s using either 100 or 120HU definitions. CONCLUSION: Dynamic CTA allows a 3-dimensional assessment of spot sign formation during acute ICH, and captured higher spot sign prevalence than previously reported. This is the first study to describe and quantify spot sign characteristics using dCTA; these can be used in ongoing and upcoming ICH studies.

A method for using Cerenkov radiation near atomic spectral lines to measure plasma source properties for plasma wakefield applications has been discussed and experimentally verified. Because the radiation co-propagates with the electron beam, the radiation samples the source properties exactly along the path of interest with perfect temporal synchronization. Observation wavelengths were chosen with respect to the atomic resonances of the plasma source, where the relative change in the index of refraction strongly affects the Cerenkov cone angle, and permits flexible diagnostic design. The Cerenkov spatial profiles were systematically studied for a Lithium heat pipe oven as a function of oven temperature and observation wavelength. Neutral densities and plasma densities were extracted from the measurements.

A prototype positron emission tomography (PET) system has been designed for high-resolution imaging of small volumes. The detectors use Pb converter stacks and multiwire proportional counters (MWPC); the data acquisition components and image reconstruction methods are also described briefly. The performance of the system is discussed in terms of sensitivity, count rate capability, spatial resolution, and scattered background. Three examples of metabolic or transport imaging demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the system. These are blood flow to bone, cerebral glucose uptake, and nutrient translocation in plants. The performance of the prototype has been sufficiently promising that an improved system is under development.

Compton scattering of gamma rays within the image volume has been assessed for a large-aperture positron-emission-tomography imaging system. The Compton scattered attenuation and the Compton scattered background were both modeled and measured for point sources centered in scattering spheres up to 10 cm in diameter. Good agreement was obtained between simulations and measurements. The attenuation problem is independent of the detector system, but its correction is more difficult in a large-aperture system. The scattered coincidence background is large in this system (43% for a 10-cm-diameter scattering sphere), but the background overlap is reduced with 3D imaging. >