Laser System for Livermore's Mono Energetic Gamma-Ray Source

A Mono-energetic Gamma-ray (MEGa-ray) source, based on Compton scattering of a high-intensity laser beam off a highly relativistic electron beam, requires highly specialized laser systems. To minimize the bandwidth of the {gamma}-ray beam, the scattering laser must have minimal bandwidth, but also match the electron beam depth of focus in length. This requires a {approx}1 J, 10 ps, fourier-transform-limited laser system. Also required is a high-brightness electron beam, best provided by a photoinjector. This electron source requires a second laser system with stringent requirements on the beam including flat transverse and longitudinal profiles and fast rise times. Furthermore, these systems must be synchronized to each other with ps-scale accuracy. Using a novel hyper-dispersion compressor configuration and advanced fiber amplifiers and diode-pumped Nd:YAG amplifiers, we have designed laser systems that meet these challenges for the X-band photoinjector and Compton-scattering source being built at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory