High flux bremsstrahlung source

Abstract A continuous wave (cw) linear accelerator designed to accelerate electron beams up to 50 mA intensity to an energy of 10 MeV is described. The high power electron beam can be converted into a high flux, forward peaked, bremsstrahlung source. The paper reviews the physics and engineering design of the accelerator and discusses problems associated with the acceleration of high power beams and their transformation into X-rays. The choice of the accelerator structure parameters, such as frequency, beam loading and energy gradient is discussed. A bremsstrahlung radiator, dissipating up to 500 kW of electron beam power, is described. Applications for the high flux bremsstrahlung source are suggested.