High energy, high brightness x-rays produced by Compton backscattering at the Livermore PLEIADES facility

PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser Electron Interaction for the Dynamic Evaluation of Structures) produces tunable 30-140 keV x-rays with 0.3-5 ps pulse lengths and up to 10<^>7 photons/pulse by colliding a high brightness electron beam with a hi-h power laser. The electron beam is created by all rf photo-injector system, accelerated by a 120 MeV linac, and focused to 20 mu m with novel permanent magnet quadrupoles. To produce Compton back scattered x-rays, the electron bunch is overlapped with a Ti:Sapphire laser that delivers 500 mJ, 100 fs, Pulses to the interaction point. K-edge radiography at 115 K-eV oil Uranium has verified the an-le correlated energy spectrum inherent in Compton scattering and high-energy tunability of the Livermore source. Current upgrades to the facility will allow laser pumping of targets synchronized to the x-ray Source enabling dynamic diffraction and time-resolved Studies of high Z materials. Near future plans include extending the radiation energies to > 400 keV, allowing for nuclear fluorescence studies of materials.