LASER COMPTON SCATTERING X-RAYS AS A TOOL FOR K-EDGE DENSITOMETRY *

Abstract There is a huge interest in bright and tunable X-ray sources. These sources can be used in various research fields, including medical, biological and industrial fields. Laser Compton Scattering (LCS) technique gives us possibility to generate tunable, quasi monochromatic and polarized X-ray bea

Determination of electron beam parameters by means of laser-Compton scattering

Laser-Compton scattering (LCS) experiments were carried out at the Idaho Accelerator Center using the 5 ns (FWHM) and 22 MeV electron beam. The electron beam was brought to an approximate head-on collision with a 29 MW, 7 ns (FWHM), 10 Hz Nd:YAG laser. Clear and narrow x-ray peaks resulting from the interaction of relativistic electrons with the Nd:YAG laser second harmonic line at 532 nm were observed. We have developed a relatively new method of using LCS as a nonintercepting electron beam monitor. Our method focused on the variation of the shape of the LCS spectrum rather than the LCS intensity as a function of the observation angle in order to extract the electron beam parameters at the interaction region. The electron beam parameters were determined by making simultaneous fits to spectra taken across the LCS x-ray cone. This scan method allowed us also to determine the variation of LCS x-ray peak energies and spectral widths as a function of the detector angles. Experimental data show that in addition to being viewed as a potential bright, tunable, and quasimonochromatic x-ray source, LCS can provide important information on the electron beam pulse length, direction, energy, angular and energy spread. Since the quality of LCS x-ray peaks, such as degree of monochromaticity, peak energy and flux, depends strongly on the electron beam parameters, LCS can therefore be viewed as an important nondestructive tool for electron beam diagnostics

Laser-Compton Scattering as a Potential Electron Beam Monitor

LCS experiments were carried out at the Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC); sharp monochromatic x-ray lines were observed. These are produced using the so-called inverse Compton effect, whereby optical laser photons are collided with a relativistic electron beam. The back-scattered photons are then kinematically boosted to keV x-ray energies. We have first demonstrated these beams using a 20 MeV electron beam collided with a 100 MW, 7 ns Nd; YAG laser. We observed narrow LCS x-ray spectral peaks resulting from the interaction of the electron beam with the Nd; YAG laser second harmonic (532 nm). The LCS x-ray energy lines and energy deviations were measured as a function of the electron beam energy and enery-spread respectively. The results showed good agreement with the predicted valves. LCS could provide an exellent probe of electron beam energy, energy spread, transverse and longitudinal distribution and direction

Transverse Beam Emittance Measurements of a 16 MeV Linac at the Idaho Accelerator Center

A beam emittance measurement of the 16 MeV S-band High Repetition Rate Linac (HRRL) was performed at Idaho State University's Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC). The HRRL linac structure was upgraded beyond the capabilities of a typical medical linac so it can achieve a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Measurements of the HRRL transverse beam emittance are underway that will be used to optimize the production of positrons using HRRL's intense electron beam on a tungsten converter. In this paper, we describe a beam imaging system using on an OTR screen and a digital CCD camera, a MATLAB tool to extract beamsize and emittance, detailed measurement procedures, and the measured transverse emittances for an arbitrary beam energy of 15 MeV