Laser-driven plasma accelerators1,2,3 are a new concept of electron accelerators, up to 1000 times more compact than conventional ones based on radiofrequency cavities. One of the remarkable features of this type of device is that the electrons wiggle inside the plasma during the acceleration emitting bright femtosecond X-ray flashes4,5. This X-ray emission, called betatron radiation, has been successfully used for X-ray imaging, including single shot phase contrast imaging6. Here we report on the combination of betatron radiation with a multimodal imaging modality, beam tracking 7, to produce transmission, refraction, and dark-field (scattering) images in a single shot at the femtosecond. Beam-tracking is a robust imaging method applicable to both synchrotron and laboratory x-ray sources. It consists of structuring the X-ray beam into physically separated beamlets using an absorption mask. The three channels, transmission, refraction, and scattering are retrieved from the distortion of the beamlets due to the presence of the sample. The experiment was carried out at the X-ray betatron beamline at the Advanced Laser Light Source in Montreal, Canada. We present the results obtained, we discuss current limitations, prospective applications, and future developments. References 1 Mangles, S. et al., (2004). Nature, 431 (535-538) 2 Geddes, C.G.R. et al., (2004). Nature, 431 (538-541) 3 Faure J. et al., (2004). Nature, 431 (541-544) 4 Kneip S. et al. (2010), Nat. Phys. 6 (980-983) 5 Cipiccia, S. et al., (2011), Nat. Phys. 7 (867-871) 6 Fourmaux, S. et al. (2011). Opt. Lett. 36 (2426) 7 Vittoria, F. A. et al. (2015). Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, (224102) 8 Navarrete Leon C. et al. (2023). Optica 10 (880-887)
Silvia Cipiccia (Mon,) studied this question.