Accelerator based Light Source Activities in Germany

Accelerator based light sources for investigation of matter and materials are highly interesting tools in basic research and applied science. Wavelength ranges from microwaves to hard Gamma rays with extremely high photon fluxes and high average beam power can be generated. In most cases, accelerator based light sources are tunable and provide extremely short and high intensity light pulses. For many applications accelerator based sources offer clear advantages in comparison with other light sources, and can also be synchronized to with external laser based sources. Sophisticated accelerator technologies, such as superconducting RF technology, has pushed this trend during the last decade.
In Germany, an extended program to develop new accelerator technologies has been established in the framework of the Helmholtz Association. More than 200 million Euro will be invested from 2016-2019 within this publicly funded program. Against this background, a number of accelerator projects have been realized or started, in particular for generating light beams for research. This talk will give an overview about the largest existing accelerator facilities and projects for light generation reaching from THz up to x-Rays.
Flash and XFEL at DESY, FLUTE and the former THz project TBONE at KIT Karlsruhe, BESSY VSR and bERLinPro at HZB Berlin and ELBE and a potential follow up project at HZDR will be presented.