Ultrashort x-ray pulse generation by nonlinear Thomson scattering of a relativistic electron with an intense circularly polarized laser pulse

The nonlinear Thomson scattering of a relativistic electron with an intense laser pulse is calculated numerically. The results show that an ultrashort x-ray pulse can be generated by an electron with an initial energy of 5 MeV propagating across a circularly polarized laser pulse with a duration of 8 femtosecond and an intensity of about 1.1 x 10(21) W/cm(2), when the detection direction is perpendicular to the propagation directions of both the electron and the laser beam. The optimal values of the carrier-envelop phase and the intensity of the laser pulse for the generation of a single ultrashort x-ray pulse are obtained and verified by our calculations of the radiation characteristics.