Non-planar four-mirror optical cavity for high intensity gamma ray flux production by pulsed laser beam Compton scattering off GeV-electrons

Abstract

As part of the R&D toward the production of high flux of polarised Gamma-rays we have designed and built a non-planar four-mirror optical cavity with a high finesse and operated it at a particle accelerator. We report on the main challenges of such cavity, such as the design of a suitable laser based on fiber technology, the mechanical difficulties of having a high tunability and a high mechanical stability in an accelerator environment and the active stabilization of such cavity by implementing a double feedback loop in a FPGA. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.