EPJ D Topical review - Crystal-based intensive gamma-ray light sources

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Published on 06 October 2020

In a Topical review just published in EPJD, A.V. Korol and A.V. Solov'yov (MBN Research Center, Germany) discuss possibilities for designing and practical realization of novel intensive gamma-ray Crystal-based LSs (CLS) operating at photon energies from 102 keV and above that can be constructed exposing oriented crystals to beams of ultrarelativistic particles. CLSs can generate radiation in the photon energy range where the technologies based on the fields of permanent magnets become inefficient or incapable.

In an exemplary case study the authors consider a CLS based on a periodically bent crystal. It is demonstrated that peak brilliance of radiation in the photon energy range 1-102 MeV by currently available positron beams is comparable to or even higher than that achievable in conventional synchrotrons at much lower energies. By propagating pre-bunched beams the brilliance can be boosted by orders of magnitude reaching the values accessible in the state-of-the-art magnetic undulators and matching the values achievable at the XFEL facilities which operate in much lower photon energy range.

The size and the cost of CLSs are orders of magnitude less than that of modern LSs based on the permanent magnets. This opens many practical possibilities for the efficient generation of gamma-rays with various intensities and energies by means of the existing and to-be constructed beam-lines.

When developed, CLSs will have many applications in basic sciences, technology and medicine. They could be used for disposing of nuclear waste, nuclear medicine, production of rare isotopes, photo-induced nuclear reactions, medical applications, non-destructive imaging of complex molecular systems with the resolution allowing detection of positions of the nuclei, and gamma-ray material diagnostics.