Recently we have constructed two facilities for generating photon beams in the MeV and sub-MeV energy regions by means of the Compton backscattering with a laser and an electron beam at SPring-8 and at Kansai Photon Science Institute of Japan Atomic Energy Agency(KPSIJAEA).The MeV-photon source at SPring-8 consists of a continuous-wave optically-pumped far infrared laser with a wavelength of 118.8 μm and an 8 GeV stored electron beam.Present MeV-photon flux is estimated to be 1.3×103 photons/s.On the other hand,the sub-MeV-photon source at KPSI-JAEA consists of a pulse Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1 064 nm and a 150 MeV electron beam accelerated by microtron.In the first trial of the photon production in this source,backscattered photon flux is estimated to be 20 photons/pulse.Both the Compton backscattered photon sources have possibilities to be used for new tools in various fields such as nuclear physics,materials science,and astronomy.
Kansai Photon Science Institute,Japan Atomic Energy Agency,8-1 Umemidai,Kizugawa,Kyoto 619-0215,Japa Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute,1-1-1 Kouto,Sayo-cho,Sayo,Hyogo 679-5198,Japan Department of Physics,Osaka University,1-1 Machikaneyama-cho,Toyonaka,Osaka 560-0043,Japan Research Center for Nuclear Physics,Osaka University,10-1 Mihogaoka,Ibaraki,Osaka 567-0047,Japan