OK-4/Duke monochromatic γ-ray source: Performance and prediction

A beam of nearly monochromatic γ-rays was produced via intracavity Compton backscattering in the OK-4/Duke storage ring FEL. The OK-4 FEL operated in the near-UV range (345-413 nm) with electron energies of 260-550 MeV. The energy of the produced γ-rays varied from 3 to 16 MeV. In the near future we plan to increase the energy of the γ-rays to 50 MeV by increasing the electron energy and reducing FEL wavelength. Results from direct measurements of the γ-ray flux and energy resolution (using a 3 mm diameter lead collimator) (Litvinenko et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 78 (1997) 4569) are very close to our theoretical predictions. The energy resolution of the γ-rays was ∼ 1%. In this paper we present a comparison of our measurements with theoretical predictions and our plans for future improvements. We discuss upgrades of our system to attain an energy resolution down to 0.1% and to increase the flux. A brief description of the experimental program utilizing the OK-4/Duke monochromatic γ-ray source is presented.