Simulation and optimization of an X-ray source for nondestructive testing

An electron beam generated by a laser-plasma accelerator is converted into an X-ray source by means of bremsstrahlung radiation in a dense material. This radiation source can be used to perform non-destructive testing (NDT) of dense objects. To perform this type of X-ray imaging, it is necessary to work with a point-like source of high energy X-rays. For this purpose, a numerical optimization of the whole experiment is essential, we have to deal with two main parts, the laser-matter interaction for which we use a Particle-In-Cell code, and the X-ray emission part for which we use a Monte Carlo code. In this talk we will discuss our recent approaches for tackling the limitations of NDT for dense objects : increasing the energy of the source and reducing its size.