"Project Title: Undulator-Based Production of Polarized Photons" DOE Contract Number: FG02-04ER41355 Principal Investigator: Prof. Kirk McDonald Period of Performance: 09/10/2004 thru 08/31/2006 This award was to fund Princeton's activity on SLAC experiment E166, "Undulator-Based Production of Polarized Positrons" which was performed at SLAC during June and September 2005. Princeton U. fabricated a magnetic spectrometer for this experiment, and participated in the commissioning, operation, and analysis of the experiment, for which Prof. McDonald was a co-spokesperson. The experiment demonstrated that an intense positron beam with 80% longitudinal polarization could be generated by conversion of MeVenergy circularly polarized photons in a thin target, which photons were generated by passage of high-energy electrons through a helical undulator. This technique has since been adopted as the baseline for the polarized positron source of the proposed International Linear Collider. Results of the experiment have been published in Physical Review Letters, vol 100, p 210801 (2008) [see attached .pdf file], and a longer paper is in preparation.
The full exploitation of the physics potential of future linear colliders such as the JLC, NLC, and TESLA will require the development of polarized positron beams. In the proposed scheme of Balakin and Mikhailichenko [1] a helical undulator is employed to generate photons of several MeV with circular polarization which are then converted in a relatively thin target to generate longitudinally polarized positrons. This experiment, E-166, proposes to test this scheme to determine whether such a technique can produce polarized positron beams of sufficient quality for use in future linear colliders. The experiment will install a meter-long, short-period, pulsed helical undulator in the Final Focus Test Beam (FFTB) at SLAC. A low-emittance 50-GeV electron beam passing through this undulator will generate circularly polarized photons with energies up to 10 MeV. These polarized photons are then converted to polarized positrons via pair production in thin targets. Titanium and tungsten targets, which are both candidates for use in linear colliders, will be tested. The experiment will measure the flux and polarization of the undulator photons, and the spectrum and polarization of the positrons produced in the conversion target, and compare the measurement results to simulations. Thus the proposed experiment directly tests for the first time the validity of the simulation programs used for the physics of polarized pair production in finite matter, in particular the effects of multiple scattering on polarization. Successful comparison of the experimental results to the simulations will lead to greater confidence in the proposed designs of polarized positrons sources for the next generation of linear colliders. This experiment requests six-weeks of time in the FFTB beam line: three weeks for installation and setup and three weeks of beam for data taking. A 50-GeV beam with about twice the SLC emittance at a repetition rate of 30 Hz is required.
A proof-of-principle experiment has been carried out in the Final Focus Test Beam (FFTB) at SLAC to demonstrate production of polarized positrons in a manner suitable for implementation at the ILC. A helical undulator of 2.54 mm period and 1-m length produced circularly polarized photons of first harmonic endpoint energy of 8 MeV when traversed by a 46.6 GeV electron beam. The polarized photons were converted to polarized positrons in a 0.2-radiation-length tungsten target. The polarization of these positrons was measured at several energies, with a peak value of (almost equal to) 80% according to a preliminary analysis of the transmission polarimetry of photons obtained on reconversion of the positrons in a second tungsten target.
A longitudinal polarized positron beam is foreseen for the international linear collider (ILC). A proof-of-principle experiment has been performed in the final focus test beam at SLAC to demonstrate the production of polarized positrons for implementation at the ILC. The E166 experiment uses a 1 m long helical undulator in a 46.6 GeV electron beam to produce a few MeV photons with a high degree of circular polarization. These photons are then converted in a thin target to generate longitudinally polarized e and e−. The positron polarization is measured using a Compton transmission polarimeter. The data analysis has shown asymmetries in the expected vicinity of 3.4% and H"% for photons and positrons respectively and the expected positron longitudinal polarization is covering a range from 50% to 90%. The full exploitation of the physics potential of an international linear collider (ILC) will require the development of polarized positron beams. Having both e and e− beams polarized will provide new insight into structures of couplings and thus give access to physics beyond the standard model [1]. The concept for a polarized positron source is based on circularly polarized photon sources. These photons are then converted to longitudinally polarized e+ and e− pairs. While in an experiment at KEK [1a], Compton backscattering is used [2], the E166 experiment uses a helical undulator to produce polarized photons. An undulator-based positron source for the ILC has been proposed in [3,4]. The proposed scheme for an ILC positron source is illustrated in figure 1. In this scheme, a 150 GeV electron beam passes through a 120 m long helical undulator to produce an intense photon beam with a high degree of circular polarization. These photons are converted in a thin target to e+ e− pairs. The polarized positrons are then collected, pre-accelerated to the damping ring and injected to the main linac. The E166 experiment is dedicated to test this concept of a helical-undulator-based polarized positron source for the ILC. The experiment was carried out at SLAC where it benefitted from the high quality electron beam in the final focus test beam (FFTB).
The full exploitation of the physics potential of future linear colliders such as the JLC, NLC, and TESLA will require the development of polarized positron beams. In the proposed scheme of Balakin and Mikhailichenko [1] a helical undulator is employed to generate photons of several MeV with circular polarization which are then converted in a relatively thin target to generate longitudinally polarized positrons. This experiment, E-166, proposes to test this scheme to determine whether such a technique can produce polarized positron beams of sufficient quality for use in future linear colliders. The experiment will install a meter-long, short-period, pulsed helical undulator in the Final Focus Test Beam (FFTB) at SLAC. A low-emittance 50-GeV electron beam passing through this undulator will generate circularly polarized photons with energies up to 10 MeV. These polarized photons are then converted to polarized positrons via pair production in thin targets. Titanium and tungsten targets, which are both candidates for use in linear colliders, will be tested. The experiment will measure the flux and polarization of the undulator photons, and the spectrum and polarization of the positrons produced in the conversion target, and compare the measurement results to simulations. Thus the proposed experiment directly tests for the first time the validity of the simulation programs used for the physics of polarized pair production in finite matter, in particular the effects of multiple scattering on polarization. Successful comparison of the experimental results to the simulations will lead to greater confidence in the proposed designs of polarized positrons sources for the next generation of linear colliders. This experiment requests six-weeks of time in the FFTB beam line: three weeks for installation and setup and three weeks of beam for data taking. A 50-GeV beam with about twice the SLC emittance at a repetition rate of 30 Hz is required.
An experiment (E166) at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has demonstrated a scheme in which a multi-GeV electron beam passed through a helical undulator to generate multi-MeV, circularly polarized photons which were then converted in a thin target to produce positrons (and electrons) with longitudinal polarization above 80% at 6 MeV. The results are in agreement with Geant4 simulations that include the dominant polarization-dependent interactions of electrons, positrons and photons in matter.
E-166 at SLAC has demonstrated the feasibilty of production of polarized positrons for the International Linear Collider using a helical undulator to produce polarized photons which are converted in a thin target to polarized positrons. The success of the experim ent has resulted in the choice of this technique for the baseline design of ILC.
A compact and comparatively inexpensive system that is practical for universities is described based on a low-energy, electron storage ring with at least one undulator based oscillator to store photons. If the oscillator cavity length is relativistically corrected to be an harmonic of the ring circumference (L[sub C]=[beta]L[sub R]n/n[sub B] with n[sub B] the number of bunches), higher-energy, secondary photons from Compton backscattering may become significant. Then, besides synchrotron radiation from the ring dipoles and damping wigglers as well as undulator photons, there are frequency upshifted Compton photons and photoneutrons from low Q-value targets such as Beryllium (Q[sub n]=-1.66) or Deuterium (Q[sub n]=-2.22 MeV). For 100 MeV electron bunches, an adjustable-phase, planar, helical undulator can be made to produce circularly polarized UV photons having a fundamental[var-epsilon][sub[gamma]l]= 11.1 eV. If these photons are stored in a multimode, hole-coupled resonator they produce a Compton endpoint energy up to[var-epsilon][sub[gamma]l]= 1.7 MeV. When incident on a Be conversion target these secondary photons make unmoderated, epithermal neutrons having mean energy[var-epsilon][sub n]= 24.8[+-] 6.8 keV from the two-body reaction Be[sup 9]+[gamma][yields] n+ Be[sup 8] ([yields] 2[alpha]) with negligible, residual radioactivity. When the target is unpolarized, one expects neutron rates of 10[sup 11] epithermal n/s for 10[sup 15] Comptons/s and a circulating current of 1 A with polarizations P[sub RHC]([rvec n])= -0.5, P[sub LHC]([rvec n])= 0.5, both with reduced flux, and P[sub Lin]([rvec n])= 0. With a 1 cm thick cylindrical tungsten sheath surrounding the Be to attenuate scattered photons exiting at 90[sup o] to the incident photons, there is a peak neutron flux of[approx]10[sup 9] epithermal n/s/cm[sup 2] cylindrically symmetric around the surface. No attempt was made to optimize this because there is still no accepted treatment protocol (dose rates or preferred neutron energy distribution). Although these factors depend on the individual case, several thousand BNCT treatments per year appear feasible. A potential clinical advantage of this system is that it also provides the photon beams required for analogs of NCT such as photon activation therapy PAT. Other medical applications, depending on electron energy, include real-time production of radioactive nuclides (both proton and neutron rich) e.g. tracers for PET scans useful for measuring boron uptake rate and distribution prior to treatment. While the primary electron energy depends on the application, higher energies are more versatile and technically simpler. Certain innovations that make such a system feasible are discussed.
In the proposed E-166 experiment at SLAC, 50 GeV electrons pass through a helical undulator, and produce circularly polarized photons, which interact with a tungsten target and generate longitudinally polarized positrons. The background is an important issue for an experiment under consideration. To address this issue, simulations were performed with the code GEANT3 to model the production of secondary particles from high-energy electrons hitting an undulator. The energy density of photons generated at the target has been analyzed. Results of the simulations are presented and discussed.
Hardly any other discovery of the nineteenth century did have such an impact on science and technology as Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen’s seminal find of the X-rays. X-ray tubes soon made their way as excellent instruments for numerous applications in medicine, biology, materials science and testing, chemistry and public security. Developing new radiation sources with higher brilliance and much extended spectral range resulted in stunning developments like the electron synchrotron and electron storage ring and the freeelectron laser. This handbook highlights these developments in fifty chapters. The reader is given not only an inside view of exciting science areas but also of design concepts for the most advanced light sources. The theory of synchrotron radiation and of the freeelectron laser, design examples and the technology basis are presented. The handbook presents advanced concepts like seeding and harmonic generation, the booming field of Terahertz radiation sources and upcoming brilliant light sources driven by laser-plasma accelerators. The applications of the most advanced light sources and the advent of nanobeams and fully coherent x-rays allow experiments from which scientists in the past could not even dream. Examples are the diffraction with nanometer resolution, imaging with a full 3D reconstruction of the object from a diffraction pattern, measuring the disorder in liquids with high spatial and temporal resolution. The 20th century was dedicated to the development and improvement of synchrotron light sources with an ever ongoing increase of brilliance. With ultrahigh brilliance sources, the 21st century will be the century of x-ray lasers and their applications. Thus, we are already close to the dream of condensed matter and biophysics: imaging single (macro)molecules and measuring their dynamics on the femtosecond timescale to produce movies with atomic resolution.
