Instrumentation developments for production and characterisation of Inverse Compton Scattering X-rays and first results with a 17MeV electron beam

• Published in: Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment, 2010-10, Vol.622 (1), p.129-135
• Main Authors: Chauchat, A.S., Le Flanchec, V., Nègre, J.P., Binet, A., Balleyguier, P., Brasile, J.P., Ortega, J.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ELSA facility; Imaging plate; Inverse Compton Scattering; LINAC; X-ray source
• ISSN: 0168-9002; 1872-9576
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.07.034

An X-ray Compton source is under development at the ELSA facility. The electron beam coming from the ELSA linear accelerator interacts with a laser beam to generate an X-ray flux in the direction of the electron beam. With a 17MeV electron beam and a 532nm laser, the resulting X-ray maximal energy is around 11keV. The beams visualization at the interaction point is achieved via an aluminum retractable bevel-edge with an OTR surface on one side and a slightly roughened surface on the other. Thanks to an optical beamsplitter, beam images are both transmitted to a CCD camera and to a streak camera to manage the spatial and temporal overlap of the bunches. Careful beam management and electron background noise minimization were both required to observe the first Inverse Compton Scattering X-ray profile of this source on radio-luminescent imaging plates.