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Optimizing the interaction geometry of inverse Compton scattering x-ray sources

C. W. Sweers* and O. J. Luiten

  • *Contact author: c.w.sweers@tue.nl
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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 083405 – Published 31 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/z3ll-hxlp

Abstract

Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) is a promising method for generating coherent and tunable x-rays in a compact setup. In this paper, we present a theoretical framework describing the output of an ICS x-ray source for arbitrary interaction angles between pulsed electron and laser beams in the Thomson regime. This allows for analytic optimization of the x-ray beam properties by varying the parameters defining the geometry. In general, different x-ray applications require optimization of different x-ray beam properties, such as energy spread for x-ray spectroscopy and angular spread for x-ray scattering measurements. In this paper, we restrict ourselves to optimization of the x-ray brilliance, which is a comprehensive figure of merit for x-ray beam quality. The framework can be used, however, to optimize other x-ray properties. We investigate two specific ICS interaction geometries in particular: head-on scattering of a laser beam off an electron beam and scattering of a laser beam off an electron beam in a co-propagating geometry, interacting under a grazing angle. For head-on scattering, we show that a tightly focused, cylindrically symmetric laser pulse, which balances laser intensity and interaction time, optimizes the x-ray brilliance. For a co-propagating, grazing angle geometry, an elliptical focus of the laser pulse is required to mitigate the geometric reduction of the interaction time. We find that the latter geometry is especially useful for soft x-ray generation.

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Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 29, 083405– Published 31 August, 2026
  • Received 5 February 2026
  • Accepted 6 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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