A tunable monochromatic hard X-ray CT composed of an X-band linear accelerator and a Q-switched laser

A Compton scattering hard X-ray source for 10-80 keV is under construction, which consists of an X-band (11.424 GHz) electron linear accelerator and a YAG laser. The main advantages are to produce tunable quasi-monochromatic hard X-rays (10-80 keV) with the intensities of 10(8-10) photons/s (at several stages) and its tabletop size. The second important aspect is to decelerate the beams before the beam dumper to reduce the noise radiation there. This enables a 3rd generation synchrotron radiation source to be constructed in small facilities without heavy shielding. The final goal is to load this hard X-ray source on a moving gantry. This device will realize a tunable monochromatic X-ray CT and dual energy X-ray imaging, which determines 3D distribution of electron density and equivalent atomic number. This provides real physical information to diagnostics and curative program. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.