High brightness multi-MeV photon source driven by a petawatt-scale laser wakefield accelerator

We present an experimental demonstration of a bright multi-MeV gamma source driven by a petawatt laser. The source generates on average $(1.2\pm 0.6)\times {10}^9$ photons above 1 MeV per pulse, exceeding those of previous all-optical sources by a hundred times, and reached a peak spectral brightness of $(3.9\pm 1.5)\times {10}^{22}$ photons/mm${}^2$/mrad${}^2$/s/0.1%BW at ${\epsilon }_{\gamma }\approx 11$ MeV. The source was produced by inverse Compton scattering of a laser wakefield accelerated GeV electron beam and its back-reflected driving laser pulse. Its performance is well described by a simple model of the laser and electron properties at the collision point that allows quantitative predictions and identifies clear strategies to further enhance radiation efficiency. Our results highlight the promise of this source for fundamental physics studies, as well as for applications of nuclear resonance fluorescence and nuclear transmutation.