K-edge imaging with quasi-monochromatic LCS X-ray source on the basis of S-band compact electron linac

A quasi-monochromatic hard X-ray source via laser Compton scattering (LCS) was developed on the basis of an S-band compact electron linac at AIST. The total number of photons generated and the maximum X-ray energy were ∼107 photons/s and 41 keV, respectively, when a 42-MeV electron beam was collided with an 800-nm Ti:sapphire laser at a 15° collision angle. We successfully demonstrated K-edge imaging using these LCS X-rays for the high-contrast observation of a human phantom with barium sulfate-concentrated blood vessels. In this paper, we describe the results of the K-edge imaging and analytical estimates of the contrast enhancement effect for the energy range ∼37 keV, which corresponds to the K-edge energy of barium.