Compact X-Ray Light Source Design

Background

X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) produce x-ray pulses with durations shorter than 100 femtoseconds. Each pulse contains enough photons to produce a diffraction pattern from a nanocrystal in a single shot, while avoiding most effects of radiation damage. XFELs are increasing in prevalence in a range of applications due to their capacity to study the structure and dynamics of matter at the atomic and molecular levels. The shortest XFEL pulses approach 1 femtosecond, corresponding to a natural time scale of the fastest electronic excitations and are opening a new era in exploration of dynamics at an atomic scale.

Invention Description

Researchers at Arizona State University have developed an improved compact x-ray light source, by shortening the accelerator using a laser undulator. In this device, the electrons are fed through an RF-based accelerator, and hard X-rays can be generated with the laser undulator with a relatively low electron beam energy. This contributes to the design of a more compact and less expensive XFEL design.

Potential Applications:

• Analyzing crystal structure
• Understanding dynamics of biological molecules in their native environment
• Calculating fundamental charge and energy dynamics in molecules
• Studying emergent phenomena in correlated electron systems
• Single-particle structures & dynamics
• Research on matter in extreme environments

Benefits and Advantages:

• Compact – use of RF accelerator and laser undulator reduces size of device
• Enhanced power – high electron beam quality
• Less expensive – generation of hard X-rays with lower electron beam energy