Femtosecond laser-driven x-ray tube

Summary form only given. The efficient generation of sub-picosecond hard-x-ray pulses in the keV energy range is of great scientific and practical importance. A promising indirect way to generate ultrashort hard-x-rays is to use low-intensity femtosecond laser pulses, These pulses induce photoemission of electrons from a metal cathode which then are accelerated towards a high-Z target material by applying an external high voltage. Hard-x-rays are produced via Bremsstrahlung of energetic electrons.We report on our progress in the development and investigations of a femtosecond laser-driven x-ray tube.