The X-ray transition radiation

The interest of producing high-energy radiation using a small-size electron accelerator is growing since many years. It appeared that such accelerators should drive x-ray sources to produce a high flux of radiation. The range of photon-energy available when using electron linacs, for example, is between a few tens of eV and the maximum electron kinetic energy. The transition radiation, which is produced when a charged particle crosses the interface between two media of different permittivities, is a very promising way due to its high production rate. We present here a study of this physical process involving moderate-energy relativistic electrons (20 MeV). We recall the main characteristics of the radiation when the interface is crossed at normal incidence and derive the analytical production yields when the interaction takes place at grazing incidence. The results for both geometries are compared. Finally, the scale laws allowing the optimization of the spectral source brilliance are presented.