High energy Free Electron Laser for nuclear applications

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the potential of Free-Electron Lasers to produce high-energy photon beams in the MeV range for nuclear applications, demonstrating feasible operation points and promising results through simulations.

Contribution

It introduces specific nuclear FEL working points and evaluates their feasibility using detailed simulations, highlighting a novel approach to high-energy gamma-ray generation.

Findings

Potential to generate 1-4 MeV FEL radiation with <300 eV bandwidth

Simulations show feasible FEL operation at high energies for nuclear applications

Identifies regimes where no other gamma-ray sources are comparable

Abstract

The capability of Free-Electron Lasers to generate photon beams with record performances in the domain of MeV-class photon energy for nuclear photonics applications is here analyzed. We discuss possible nuclear FEL working points. Some typical situations are presented and simulated by means of the three-dimensional code GENESIS 1.3. The losses by spontaneous emission and by wakefield induced energy spread are then evaluated. The calculations show the possibility of generating FEL radiation at 1-4 MeV with less than 300 eV of bandwidth with not prohibitive set up requirements, achieving therefore regimes where no other kind of gamma ray sources could arrive.