With technological advances in high-power lasers, more and more facilities are installing lasers that reach energy densities at which ionizing radiation can be created. These high-power lasers allow for studies of material at high pressures and temperatures. Laser wakefield acceleration in gases can also accelerate electrons to 100s of MeV, and these electrons can generate short-pulse X-rays for use in experiments.

The paper introduces the use of one such high-power laser (currently operating at 1 J, 25 TW) at SLAC, the ionizing radiation that the laser can create, measurements of this radiation outside the target chamber and hutch enclosure, and the challenges such devices present for radiation safety. Show Partial Abstract