Extremely brilliant GeV γ-rays from a two-stage laser-plasma accelerator

Recent developments in laser-wakefield accelerators have led to compact ultrashort X/gamma-ray sources that can deliver peak brilliance comparable with conventional synchrotron sources. Such sources normally have low efficiencies and are limited to 10(7-8) photons/shot in the keV to MeV range. We present a novel scheme to efficiently produce collimated ultrabright gamma-ray beams with photon energies tunable up to GeV by focusing a multi-petawatt laser pulse into a two-stage wakefield accelerator. This high-intensity laser enables efficient generation of a multi-GeV electron beam with a high density and tens-nC charge in the first stage. Subsequently, both the laser and electron beams enter into a higher-density plasma region in the second stage. Numerical simulations demonstrate that more than 10(12) gamma-ray photons/shot are produced with energy conversion efficiency above 10% for photons above 1 MeV, and the peak brilliance is above 10(26) photons s(-1) mm(-2) mrad-(2) per 0.1% bandwidth at 1 MeV. This offers new opportunities for both fundamental and applied research.