We investigate experimentally and theoretically the feasibility of using the unique properties of relativistic laser plasmas for the generation of gain in the keV region. At intensities Iλ~2 > 10~(18) Wcm~(-2) μm~2 relativistic effects lead to self-focusing, channel formation and to the generation of directional electron beams. The first two of these effects lead to a significant reduction in the required pump pulse energy. Relativistic directional electrons can be used to generate a traveling wave source of hard x-rays which can be used to photoionize inner-shell electrons and achieve inversion on inner-shell transitions. A variety of computer codes are used to model the different physical interactions and we present examples of such simulations. Further, we show hard x-ray spectra obtained under relativistic conditions and report an experiment in which the energy of the generated electrons is determined.
展开▼
