Coherent backscattering in the soft X-ray region

Abstract
Coherent X rays can be produced by Compton scattering of laser light on a relativistic electron beam, whose current is periodically modulated by the same laser radiation in a suitable miniundulator. If electron and laser photon energy are properly matched, the modulated electron beam acts as a moving diffraction grating and the X rays show a high degree of coherence. A practical implementation of this scheme is shown.