An experimental check on the use of synchrotron radiation from an electron ring for IR spectroscopy of solids

Infrared spectroscopy is one of the main methods of studying the physics of solids. For the mid-IR wavelength range, λ approx-lt 20μm, diffraction spectrometers with an ideal black-body radiation source made of silicon carbide are sufficiently effective. In the long-wavelength region, λ approx-gt 100μm, the spectral density of these sources is very small. Synchrotron radiation sources were proposed for use as an IR source for the spectroscopy of solids, using the electron ring of a heavy ion collective accelerator. This source offers several special features. First the spectral range of the IR radiation generated may be varied, since the radius of the electron ring can be varied. The spectral range is limited by the limiting radii at which it is possible to extract radiation from the ring. In the authors case, the range of radius is 3 to 8 cm, giving a wavelength range of 2 to 30 μm. Shorter wavelength radiation is almost absent, a very important point. Second, the synchrotron radiation flux depends linearly on the electron density in the rings, which in a heavy ion collective accelerator is in the range 3-5x1012. One of the main problems in using synchrotron radiation lies in forming a beam of given dimensions by focusing as large a light flux as possible from the window of the accelerator chamber