Recently, the State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have made important progress in the field of terahertz-driven waveguide acceleration. The research team proposed a cascade acceleration scheme based on hollow metal tubes, confirming the feasibility of a "desktop" 100 MeV-level electron accelerator. The relevant research results were published in the Optics Express journal under the title "Hollow metal tubes for efficient electron manipulation using terahertz surface waves ".Miniaturized electron accelerators will greatly promote their wide application in frontier science and technology. The use of terahertz-driven electron acceleration, as an emerging acceleration technology developed in the last decade, can provide higher acceleration gradients than traditional radio frequency accelerate, and is one of the reliable ways to realize miniaturized, low-cost accelerators, which is expected to extend the use of accelerators to more application, including small laboratories and hospitals.
Based on the verification of the world's first terahertz waveguide electron acceleration with an energy gain of MeV, the research team used a high-quality externally injected electron source for more flexible mode control of acceleration and compression of the electron beam. Under the action of 2.9 mJ THz pulses, the tunable electron energy reaches ±860 keV, and the enhanced compression from 400 fs to less than 70 fs is demonstrated. Meanwhile, in order to further increase the energy and realize a "desktop" high-energy electron accelerator, a waveguide cascade scheme with an externally injected electron source is proposed, which confirms the feasibility of a desktop high-energy electron accelerator of the 100 MeV class and reduces the size of a conventional accelerator from kilometers to meters, which is expected to pave the way for a compact and highly efficient terahertz-driven electron source.
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the externally injected electron source scheme (Image by SIOM)
Fig. 2 Terahertz waveguide cascade acceleration scheme (Image by SIOM)
Article Website: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.509993
Contact:
PENG Zexu
General Administrative Office
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, CAS
Email: pengzexu@siom.ac.cn
Web: http://english.siom.cas.cn/
