Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Researchers have used a bent crystal lattice to deflect highly energetic electron beams at SLAC’s End Station A. Depending on the angle at which an incoming electron (orange and yellow spheres) enters a lattice plane (two vertical planes highlighted by the blue spheres), the electron can either become trapped in the plane and follow the crystal bend (orange path on the right), or bounce off the plane in the opposite direction from the curvature (yellow path on the left). These processes are called channeling and volume reflection, respectively. The crystal lattice shown in the image is a simplified schematic of the more complex crystal used in the study.