Design of a compact electron radiography system with electron source from laser wakefield accelerator

A compact electron radiography system has been designed with high gradient permanent magnet quadrupoles with 2.5 times magnification. Quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches with energies ranging from 100 to 200 MeV are generated from a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA) acting as the electron source for the system. A matching segment composed of three quadrupoles before the objective plane creates a correlation between the position and the angle for the electrons, illuminating the observed object improved the resolution of the system. We expect electron radiography with 100-MeV ultrafast electron bunches to be widely adopted for many applications, especially considering the micron-level spatial resolution and sub-picosecond temporal resolution of the electron source from the LWFA. Since the laser system needed for generating 100–200 MeV electrons using the LWFA is roughly around 40 TW, the whole system can be effectively table-top in size, which is favorable for movable applications.