How is synchrotron light produced?
Previous pageContentsNext page When a charged particle travelling close to the speed of light is accelerated, it emits the broad spectrum of photons known as synchrotron light. At the SRS a beam of electrons is accelerated when it passes through a magnetic field, changing its path. The field is produced by sixteen huge ‘dipole’ electromagnets which constrain the beam to a roughly circular path 96 m around. Synchrotron light is emitted from all of these magnets and collected from 12 of them to feed experiments and test facilities. The light emerges like a searchlight in front of the emitting particle so it appears at a tangent to the bend. Three special magnets known as ‘insertion devices’ also produce light at the SRS. The type of light produced at sources like the SRS depends on both the energy of the electron beam and the magnetic fields used to bend the beam. The higher the beam energy, the shorter the wavelength of the light produced. Strong magnetic fields will bend the beam more
