Abstract

Our ability to manipulate short wavelength radiation (0.01-100nm, equivalent to 120keV-12eV) has increased significantly over the last three decades. This has lead to major advances in applications in a wide range of disciplines such as: the life and medical sciences, including cancer-related studies; environmental science, including studies of pollution and its effects; archaeology and other cultural heritage disciplines; and materials science. Although expansion in application areas is due largely to modern synchrotron sources, many applications will not become widespread, and therefore routinely available as analytical tools, if they are confined to synchrotrons. There is a need to develop bright but small and low cost X-ray sources, not to replace synchrotrons but to complement them and this book will look at how to facilitate these developments.

Written by a distinguished team of international authors, this book is based on the COST Action MP0601: Short Wavelength Laboratory Sources. The contents are divided into five main sections. the introductory section provides a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of radiation, generation mechanisms and short wavelength laboratory sources. The middle sections focus on modelling and simulation, source development: improvement and characterisation and integrated systems: sources, optics and detectors. The final section looks at recent applications.

Aimed at academic and industrial researchers in physical chemistry and chemical physics, the contents provides practical information about the implementation of short wavelength laboratory sources and their applications.

Professor Alan Michette did his PhD in Particle Physics at University College London. After a postdoctoral appointment at UCL he spent four years at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory before joining Queen Elizabeth College, London as a lecturer, at which point he changed to his current research field of X-Ray Physics. Following the merger of the colleges he moved to King's College London, where he has been ever since apart from a sabbatical in Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. In addition to his main research interests, he is the UK instigator of a project to place cosmic ray detectors in local schools with the aim of allowing pupils and teachers the opportunity to be involved in real research - science by application.

Sadly, Professor Michette passed away in May 2013 before this book was published.