Potential applications of new x-ray sources in radiotherapy

It is well known that the incoherent photon beams with peak energy ranging between 0.3 MeV and 20 MeV supplied by electron accelerators are used in radiotherapy. The occurrence of new coherent radiation sources, in the frame of the classification made by Gover and Yariv, 1978 and Pantell, 1980, namely: slow wave radiators, periodic bremsstrahlung radiators and transverse bending radiators, constitute a potential application of these new coherent radiation sources in radiotherapy. In this paper, we refer to Smith-Purcell radiation, transient radiation, channelling radiation, coherent bremsstrahlung and magnetic bremsstrahlung free electron laser. The main beam characteristics, interesting for radiotherapy, are also presented