Synchrotron radiation, polarization, devices and new sources

Synchrotron radiation is emitted by accelerated relativistic charged particles. In accelerators, it is produced when the particle trajectory is subjected to a magnetic field, either in bending magnets or in specific insertion devices (undulators or wigglers) made of an alternated succession of magnets, allowing the number of curvatures to be increased and the radiation to be reinforced. Synchrotron radiation, tunable from infra-red to x-rays, has a low divergence and small size source, and it can provide different types of polarization. It produces radiation pulses, whose duration results from that of the electron bunch from which they are generated. The repetition rate also depends on the accelerator type: high (typically MHz for storage rings, kHz for superconducting linear accelerators) and 10 to 100 Hz (for normal conducting linear accelerators). Longitudinally coherent radiation can also be generated for long bunches with respect to the emitted wavelength or thanks to the Free Electron Laser process.