Intense positron beam at KEK

A positron beam is a useful probe for investigating the electronic states in solids, especially concerning the surface states. The advantage of utilizing positron beams is in their simpler interactions with matter, owing to the absence of any exchange Forces, in contrast to the case of low-energy electrons. However, such studies as low-energy positron diffraction, positron microscopy and positronium (Ps) spectroscopy, which require high intensity slow-positron beams, are very limited due to the poor intensity obtained from a conventional radioactive-isotope-based positron source. In conventional laboratories, the slow-positron intensity is restricted to 10(6) e(+)/s due to the strength of the available radioactive source. An accelerator based slow-positron source is a good candidate for increasing the slow-positron intensity. One of the results using a high intensity pulsed positron beam is presented as a study of the origins of a Pa emitted from SiO2. We also describe the two-dimensional angular correlation of annihilation radiation (2D-ACAR) measurement system with slow-positron beams and a positron microscope. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.