Narrow bandwidth Thomson photon source and diagnostic development using laser-plasma accelerators

Compact, high-quality photon sources at MeV energies are being developed based on Laser-Plasma Accelerators (LPAs), and these sources at the same time provide precision diagnostics of beam evolution to support LPA development. We review design of experiments and laser capabilities to realize a photon source, integrating LPA acceleration for compactness, control of scattering to increase photon flux, and electron deceleration to mitigate beam dump size. These experiments are developing a compact photon source system with the potential to enable new monoenergetic photon applications currently restricted by source size, including nuclear nonproliferation. Diagnostic use of the energy-angle spectra of Thomson scattered photons is presented to support development of LPAs to meet the needs of advanced high yield/low-energy-spread photon sources and future high energy physics colliders.