• S.G. Anderson, F. Albert, C.P.J. Barty, D.J. Gibson, F.V. Hartemann, D.P. McNabb, M. J. Messerly, B. Rusnak, M. Shverdin, C. Siders
  LLNL, Livermore, California
• S.G. Tantawi, A.E. Vlieks
  SLAC, Menlo Park, California

Funding: This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

We present a compact, X-band, high-brightness accelerator design suitable for driving a precision gamma-ray source. Future applications of gamma-rays generated by Compton-scattering of laser and relativistic electron beams place stringent demands on the brightness and stability of the incident electron beam. This design identifies the beam parameters required for gamma-ray production, including position, and pointing stability. The design uses an emittance compensated, 11.4 GHz photo-gun and linac to generate 400 pC, 1-2 mm-mrad electron bunches at up to 250 MeV and 120 Hz repetition rate. The effects of jitter in the photo-cathode laser and RF power system are analyzed as well as structure and optic misalignments and wakefields. Finally, strategies for the mitigation of on-axis bremsstrahlung noise are discussed.

• F.V. Hartemann, F. Albert, G.G. Anderson, S.G. Anderson, C.P.J. Barty, A.J. Bayramian, S.M. Betts, T.S. Chu, R.R. Cross, C.A. Ebbers, S.E. Fisher, D.J. Gibson, D.P. McNabb, M. J. Messerly, M. Shverdin, C. Siders
  LLNL, Livermore, California
• E.N. Jongewaard, S.G. Tantawi, A.E. Vlieks
  SLAC, Menlo Park, California
• A. Ladran
  LBNL, Berkeley, California
• V.A. Semenov
  UCB, Berkeley, California

Funding: This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

A precision, tunable gamma-ray source driven by a compact, high-gradient X-band linac is under development at LLNL. High-brightness, relativistic electron bunches produced by the linac interact with a Joule-class, 10 ps laser pulse to generate tunable gamma-rays in the 0.5-2.5 MeV photon energy range via Compton scattering. The source will be used to excite nuclear resonance fluorescence lines in various isotopes; applications include homeland security, stockpile science and surveillance, nuclear fuel assay, and waste imaging and assay. The source design, key parameters, and current status will be presented.