Generation of Synchrotron Radiation During the Interaction between a Multiterrawatt Laser Pulse and a Transparent Plasma

Abstract The relativistic self-trapping of a laser pulse with relativistic intensity during its propagation in a high-density transparent plasma is accompanied by the generation of ultrabright synchrotron (betatron) radiation in the ultrahard X-ray range. This work presents a study of the effect of the duration of the laser pulse with a given energy on the characteristics of this radiation. It is shown that the currently available compression of powerful laser pulses substantially increases the efficiency of conversion into synchrotron radiation and also increases the brightness of the X-ray source by one order of magnitude.