Generation, characterization, and medical utilization of laser-produced emission continua

  • S. Svanberg
  • , S. Andersson-Engels
  • , R. Cubeddu
  • , E. Förster
  • , M. Grätz
  • , K. Herrlin
  • , G. Hölzer
  • , L. Kiernan
  • , C. Af Klinteberg
  • , A. Persson
  • , A. Pifferi
  • , A. Sjögren
  • , C. G. Wahlström

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Intense continua of electromagnetic radiation of very brief duration are formed in the interaction of focused ultra-short terawatt laser pulses with matter. Two different kinds of experiments, which have been performed utilizing the Lund 10 Hz titanium-doped sapphire terawatt laser system are being described, where visible radiation and X-rays, respectively, have been generated. Focusing into water leads to the generation of a light continuum through self-phase modulation. The propagation of the light through tissue was studied addressing questions related to optical mammography and specific chromophore absorption. When terawatt laser pulses are focused onto a solid target with high nuclear charge Z, intense X-ray radiation of few ps duration and with energies exceeding hundreds of keV is emitted. Biomedical applications of this radiation are described, including differential absorption and gated-viewing imaging.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)563-570
Number of pages8
JournalLaser and Particle Beams
Volume18
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2000
Externally publishedYes

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