High Resolution Energy-angle Correlation Measurement of Hard X rays from Laser Thomson Backscattering

A tunable source of intense ultra-short hard X ray pulses represents a novel tool for the structural analysis of complex systems with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. At Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) we demonstrated the principle of such a light source (PHOENIX – Photon Electron collider for Narrow bandwidth Intense X-Rays) by colliding picosecond electron bunches from the ELBE linear accelerator with counter-propagating femtosecond laser pulses from the 150 TW Draco Ti:Sapphire laser system. The generated narrowband X rays are highly collimated and can be reliably adjusted by tuning the electron energy. A complete spectral characterization of this source is performed with high angular and energy resolution. These intensive studies provide predictive capability for the future high brightness hard X ray source PHOENIX and potential gamma-ray sources suited to an application.