Excitation and de-excitation are shown at the bottom of the diagram. Also, you may observe no interaction. Scientists at the ALS detect and analyze the escaping electrons or photons to learn more about the structure and behavior of atoms and the materials in which they are found. Reason 4 The ALSis one of America's brightest soft x-ray sources available for researchers. The x rays produced here are a hundred million times brighter than those from the most powerful x-ray tube, the source used in a dentist's machine.
High brightness means that the x rays are highly concentrated.
Many x-ray photons per second can be directed onto a tiny area of a material. Reason 5 Besides their brightness, x rays from the ALS have other useful characteristics such as tunability, near-coherence, pulsed nature, and polarization. X-ray tubes are found in the laboratory as well as in dental offices and continue to be used for many experiments. But the ALS has advantages over x-ray tubes when it comes to investigating most materials. An obvious advantage is the length of time the x-ray beam lasts.