Here we explore ways of transforming laser radiation into incoherent and coherent electromagnetic radiation using laserdrivenplasma waves. We present several examples based on the laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) and show that theelectron beam and radiation from the LWFA has several unique characteristics compared with conventional devices. Weshow that the energy spread can be much smaller than 1% at 130-150 MeV. This makes LWFAs useful tools for scientistsundertaking time resolved probing of matter subject to stimuli. They also make excellent imaging tools. We present experimentalevidence that ultra-short XUV pulses, as short as 30 fs, are produced directly from an undulator driven by aLWFA, due to the electron bunches having a duration of a few femtoseconds. By extending the electron energy to 1 GeV,and for 1-2 fs duration pulses of 2 nm radiation peak powers of several MW per pC can be produced. The increased chargeat higher electron energies will increase the peak power to GW levels, making the LWFA driven synchrotron an extremelyuseful source with a spectral range extending into the water window. With the reduction in size afforded by using LWFAdriven radiation sources, and with the predicted advances in laser stability and repletion rate, ultra-short pulse radiationsources should become more affordable and widely used, which could change the way science is done.
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