Backscattering Sources, Volume 2: Compton backscattering, nonlinear QED processes and calculation tools

The top-performing x-ray and gamma ray sources are synchrotrons and free-electron lasers, which require large investment. Consequently, more affordable and accessible platforms are required for research and applications based on x-rays and gamma rays. Compton backscattering (CBS) is a subset of Thomson and Compton scattering and is the mechanism through which high energy electrons interacting with low energy photons transfer part of their energy to the photons. Accordingly, an infrared photon can, for example, be ‘transformed’ into an x-ray or gamma ray, in a CBS process. Monochromatic and ultrashort x-ray and gamma ray sources are challenging to make; however, CBS provides a compact and accessible platform for this purpose.Aimed at those entering the field for the first time, this second volume focuses on CBS that produces intense gamma rays of higher energy than typical scattering processes. Theoretical problems between the high energy electrons and laser interactions are discussed, along with the possibility of exploring new effects in strong field quantum electrodynamics and how they can be observed. CBS ‘factories’ and their design characteristics are analysed and later chapters take a more detailed examination of CBS applications and the future of the field.