High intensity photon sources for activation analysis

This review describes the basics of PAA and gives an overview of the bremsstrahlung process-conversion of high energy electrons into photons, which are essential for PAA. Various photon sources, primarily electron accelerators and bremsstrahlung converters are described, and the challenges that must be overcome before they can become practical tools are discussed. Several issues, such as neutron production, heating of the converter and the sample, and sample alignment are addressed. (author)