A photoinjector generates intense electron beams. The basic components of an RF photoinjector, are an RF gun with a photocathode, a laser and optical system producing the desired pulse structure, an RF source, and a timing and synchronization system.Clendenin, J.E. "RF PHOTOINJECTORS" (PDF). Retrieved 7 Apr 2014.
Applications
Bright light can be used to probe nanomaterials and the atomic and nuclear structure of matter for basic research.
Photoinjectors can be used to generate high brightness electron beams for particle colliders. Electron beams might be accelerated to 10 MeV. Photoinjectors may be used as electron sources for free-electron lasers (FEL).
The first RF photoinjector was developed in 1985 at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
References
Photoinjector Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA