Full exploitation of the physics potential of a future International Linear Collider will require the use of polarized electron and positron beams. Experiment E166 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) has demonstrated a scheme in which an
electron beam passes through a helical undulator to generate photons (whose first-harmonic spectrum extended to 7.9MeV) with circular polarization, which are then converted in a thin target to generate longitudinally polarized positrons and electrons. The experiment was carried out with a one-meter-long, 400-period, pulsed helical undulator in the Final Focus Test Beam (FFTB) operated at 46.6GeV. Measurements of the positron polarization have been performed at five positron energies from 4.5 to 7.5MeV. In addition, the electron polarization has been determined at 6.7MeV, and the effect of operating the undulator with a ferrofluid was also investigated. To compare the measurements with expectations, detailed simulations were made with an upgraded version of Geant4 that includes the dominant polarization-dependent interactions of electrons, positrons, and photons with matter. The measurements agree with calculations, corresponding to 80% polarization for positrons near 6MeV and 90% for electrons near 7MeV.
For the planned International Linear Collider it is intended to have both -- electron and positron -- beams polarised. This offers a great benefit for many physics studies, but also provides a challenge for the engineering of the machine. A polarised
positron source that meets the machine parameters is topic of current design studies and prototype experiments.
Geant4 is a Monte Carlo simulation framework for the description of interactions of particles and matter. Starting with version 8.2 a new package of QED physics processes is available, allowing for the studies of interactions of polarised particles w
ith polarised media dedicated to beam applications. In this contribution some details about the implementation are presented and applications to the linear collider are discussed.
