The selection and performance of diamond radiators used in coherent bremsstrahlung experiments

The bremsstrahlung emitted as a result of scattering electrons in thin diamond crystals provides a useful source of high energy photons for use in photonuclear experiments, since the coherent bremsstrahlung produced is linearly polarized. Techniques for selecting the most favorable diamonds have been investigated. These are optical polaroid analysis, X-ray topography and rocking curve measurements. The diamonds are characterized with a view to determining their performance as radiators, and bremsstrahlung spectra from a diamond radiator used at the Mainz MAMI-B facility are presented. The changes caused by high energy electrons to the crystal properties of the diamond and to the resulting coherent bremsstrahlung spectra are discussed.