Development of a Positron Generator Dedicated to Materials Science Applications

Positron beams are getting increasing interest for materials science and for fundamental research. Recent progress on positron production using a compact electron accelerator made at CEA-IRFU for the GBAR experiment is providing new prospect for material analysis and non-destructive testing technology using positrons. CNRS-CEMHTI is defining a long term strategy to boost its positron laboratory using an upgraded version of the CEA positron generator manufactured by the POSITHÔT company. This new generator is designed to produce between 2 and 3 x 107 slow positrons per second to feed in parallel several experiments. It will be presented here as well as the future beam developments.