Using Undulators to Obtain Monochromatic Radiation Research Paper

In connection with the wide possibilities of practical applications, in recent years, methods of obtaining electromagnetic radiation from relativistic electron and positron beams have been intensively developed. Radiation of high-energy electrons in external magnetic fields has a number of attractive properties: high intensity, sharp directivity, polarization, and precisely calculated spectral characteristics. However, with all its positive qualities, synchrotron radiation (SR) could not fully satisfy the ever-increasing requirements imposed on the characteristics of radiation: intensity, spectral range, monochromaticity, and the possibility of promptly adjusting the type of polarization. Radiation that largely satisfies all these requirements is obtained by passing relativistic charged particles through an undulator. The undulator emits electromagnetic radiation generated by the oscillatory motion of fast charged particles. The paper discusses the possibilities of undulators; the characteristics of various types of undulators, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as directions for further developments in this area are given.