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Observation of narrow-band γ radiation from a boron-doped diamond superlattice with an 855 MeV electron beam

Hartmut Backe1,*, José Baruchel2, Simon Bénichou2, Rébecca Dowek2, David Eon3,†, Pierre Everaere2, Lutz Kirste4, Pascal Klag1, Werner Lauth1,‡ et al.

Patrik Straňák4 and Thu Nhi Tran Caliste2,§

  • *Contact author: backe@uni-mainz.de
  • †Contact author: david.eon@neel.cnrs.fr
  • ‡Contact author: lauthw@uni-mainz.de
  • §Contact author: thu-nhi.tran-thi@esrf.fr
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023200 – Published 22 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/bp89-s2v1

Abstract

We report the first observation of narrow-band 1.3 MeV γ radiation from a crystalline diamond microundulator. A diamond superlattice was grown with a periodically varying boron doping profile. Four sinusoidally deformed (110) periods resulted with a period length of 5.0 µm and an amplitude of 0.098 nm. A channeling experiment was performed with the 855 MeV electron beam of the Mainz Microtron MAMI accelerator facility. A clear peak was detected with a large sodium iodide scintillation detector close to the expected photon energy of 1.28 MeV. Key characteristics of the peak, including photon energy, width, and intensity, were reproduced fairly well by Monte Carlo simulation calculations. Based on the latter, optimized boron doping profiles were designed for a hypothetical 3 GeV electron beam, enabling preparation of a highly directional γ-ray beam with a photon energy of 14.5 MeV. The predicted spectral bandwidth is 13%, however, with a high-energy continuum tail. The on-target photon flux at a beam current of 100 µA would be about 1012s−1.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023200– Published 22 May, 2026
  • Received 26 May 2025
  • Accepted 9 April 2026
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