Zig-zagging device focuses high-energy radiation emissions

These undulator devices force a penetrating charged particle to radiate, by using crystal deformations to initiate a zig-zagging trajectory. In the new study, Wistisen and colleagues present their experimental findings on radiation produced by incoming electrons with high energy (855 MeV) in a silicon-germanium crystalline undulator that is approximately 10 times thicker than the previously available one.

Traditional undulators have magnets that are on the order of 1 cm long, which translates directly into the energy of the emitted radiation, which is typically soft x-rays (1-10 keV). By comparison the undulators in this study have crystal deformations of approximately 40 nm in length, producing a radiation level that is roughly 10,000 higher: 10-50 MeV.

As part of this study, the authors then performed theoretical simulations which proved consistent with the observable radiation detected in their experimental setup.