Characteristics of synchrotron radiation

Abstract

In this paper, we review the principle of various synchrotron radiation sources and their characteristics. Spectral characteristics, the angular distribution, the polarization, and the frequency integrated power of the bending‐magnet radiation is discussed. Undulator radiation topics include the undulator harmonics, the spectrum at a given angle, the angular distribution at a given frequency, the effect due to the electron beam distribution, the angle‐integrated power, and the polarization. In addition to the mathematical analysis, we emphasize physical understanding based on the properties of the apparent trajectories. The wiggler as a limiting case of an undulator for a large orbit excursion. We establish the conditions under which a wiggler may be regarded as a sequence of bending magnets. A general discussion of the properties of synchrotron at finite, how it propagates through optical medium, how it forms interference patterns, etc., is given. (AIP)