Development of Compton gamma-ray sources at LLNL

Compact Compton scattering gamma-ray sources offer the potential of studying nuclear photonics with new tools. The optimization of such sources depends on the final application, but generally requires maximizing the spectral density (photons/eV) of the gamma-ray beam while simultaneously reducing the overall bandwidth on target to minimize noise. We have developed an advanced design for one such system, comprising the RF drive, photoinjector, accelerator, and electron-generating and electron-scattering laser systems. This system uses a 120 Hz, 250 pC, 2 ps, 0.35 mm mrad electron beam with 250 MeV maximum energy in an X-band accelerator scattering off a 150 mJ, 10 ps, 532 nm laser to generate 5 × 1010 photons/eV/s/Sr at 0.5 MeV with an overall bandwidth of less than 1%. The source will be able to produce photons up to energies of 2.5 MeV. We also discuss Compton scattering gamma-ray source predictions given by numerical codes.