Extremely Dense Gamma-Ray Pulses in Electron Beam-Multifoil Collisions

Intense sources of high-energy gamma-ray photon beams are of great interest for scientific endeavors in fundamental and applied sciences such as probing the limits of the Standard Model of particle physics, as well as for applications in industry, medicine, and material science. However, existing photon sources are extremely limited in photon intensity at these high energies. This project will employ the electron beam at the FACET-II National User Facility to develop a novel type of gamma-ray photon source capable of producing many orders of magnitude greater photon density than currently possible. This will be achieved by colliding highly compressed beams of electrons with metal foil targets to drive a process that will focus the electron beam to extreme densities and trigger an intense emission of gamma-ray photons. The collaboration between Douglas Storey from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Sébastien Corde from École Polytechnique will leverage both the unique capabilities of SLAC’s FACET-II accelerator facility and École Polytechnique’s numerical modelling and experiment development expertise to advance this powerful new light source tool.