3:30 pm MCP 201
Physics Research With Highly Polarized Gamma Rays At HIGS Facility
A nearly monochromatic, polarized gamma-ray beam is a powerful tool for nuclear physics research. Such a real photon probe can be used to study various aspects of the nucleus, including its collective motions, the strong interaction between nucleons, and the dynamics of quarks and gluons. Laser-driven Compton gamma-ray sources have been developed and operated worldwide since the late 1970s. The High Intensity Gammaray Source (HIGS) at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory is currently the highest flux and most versatile source in operation. Driven by a high peak power storage ring free-electron laser (FEL), the HIGS produces highly polarized gamma-ray beams with energies ranging from 1 to 120 MeV, with peak performance of total flux up to 3E10 g/s and a spectral flux of more than 1E3 g/s/eV in the 10 MeV region. In this presentation, I will discuss the operation principle of the HIGS facility, developments in the storage ring and FEL to achieve a wide energy range, maximum flux, and high resolution, as well as new capabilities being developed such as two-color beams, precision polarization control, and OAM beams. Finally, I will give an overview of the areas of nuclear physics research being conducted at the HIGS facility.