Breakdown limits on Gigavolt-per-meter electron-beam-driven wakefields in dielectric structures

Observation of Skewed Electromagnetic Wakefields in an Asymmetric Structure Driven by Flat Electron Bunches

Relativistic charged-particle beams that generate intense longitudinal fields in accelerating structures also inherently couple to transverse modes. The effects of this coupling may lead to beam breakup instability and thus must be countered to preserve beam quality in applications such as linear colliders. Beams with highly asymmetric transverse sizes (flat beams) have been shown to suppress the initial instability in slab-symmetric structures. However, as the coupling to transverse modes remains, this solution serves only to delay instability. In order to understand the hazards of transverse coupling in such a case, we describe here an experiment characterizing the transverse effects on a flat beam, traversing near a planar dielectric lined structure. The measurements reveal the emergence of a previously unobserved skew-quadrupolelike interaction when the beam is canted transversely, which is not present when the flat beam travels parallel to the dielectric surface. We deploy a multipole field fitting algorithm to reconstruct the projected transverse wakefields from the data. We generate the effective kick vector map using a simple two-particle theoretical model, with particle-in-cell simulations used to provide further insight for realistic particle distributions.

Ultrashort large-bandwidth X-ray free-electron laser generation with a dielectric-lined waveguide

Large-bandwidth pulses produced by cutting-edge X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) are of great importance in research fields like material science and biology. In this paper, a new method to generate high-power ultrashort FEL pulses with tunable spectral bandwidth with spectral coherence using a dielectric-lined waveguide without interfering operation of linacs is proposed. By exploiting the passive and dephasingless wakefield at terahertz frequency excited by the beam, stable energy modulation can be achieved in the electron beam and large-bandwidth high-intensity soft X-ray radiation can be generated. Three-dimensional start-to-end simulations have been carried out and the results show that coherent radiation pulses with duration of a few femtoseconds and bandwidths ranging from 1.01% to 2.16% can be achieved by changing the undulator taper profile.

Relativistic-guided stable mode of few-cycle 20 µm level infrared radiation

The generation of intense infrared radiation with a wavelength greater than 10 µm is limited by the optical materials in traditional methods or the laser-plasma parameters of plasma-bubble methods. In this study, we propose a new method for generating an intense longitudinal radiation field of tens of GV/m. By utilizing the oscillations of the electron film on the inner surface of the micro-tube, excited by the relativistic electron beam propagating within it, it is possible to obtain tunable long-wavelength few-cycle infrared radiation, ranging from 20 to 30 µm and even longer. The radiation source is guided entirely by a relativistic electron beam and formed a stable TM propagation mode in the micro-tube. This opens up new opportunities for applications of the relativistic intensity infrared radiation to high-field physics, shorter attosecond pulses generation and charged particle acceleration.

Investigation of the Way of Phase Synchronization of a Self-Injected Bunch and an Accelerating Wakefield in Solid-State Plasma

The electron acceleration, in a laser wakefield accelerator, controlled through plasma density inhomogeneity is studied on a basis of 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation. The acceleration requires a concordance of the density scale length and shift of the accelerated electron bunch relative to wake bubble during electron acceleration. This paper considers the excitation of a wakefield in plasma with a density equal to the density of free electrons in metals, solid-state plasma (the original idea of Prof. T. Tajima), in the context of studying the wakefield process. As is known in the wake process, as the wake bubble moves through the plasma, the self-injected electron bunch shifts along the wake bubble. Then, the self-injected bunch falls into the phase of deceleration of the wake wave. In this paper, support of the acceleration process by maintaining the position of the self-injected electron bunch using an inhomogeneous plasma is proposed. It is confirmed that the method of maintaining phase synchronization proposed in the article by using a nonuniform plasma leads to an increase in the accelerating gradient and energy of the accelerated electron bunch in comparison with the case of self-injection and acceleration in a homogeneous plasma.

Stable and Scalable Multistage Terahertz-Driven Particle Accelerator

Particle accelerators that use electromagnetic fields to increase a charged particle's energy have greatly advanced the development of science and industry since invention. However, the enormous cost and size of conventional radio-frequency accelerators have limited their accessibility. Here, we demonstrate a miniaccelerator powered by terahertz pulses with wavelengths 100 times shorter than radio-frequency pulses. By injecting a short relativistic electron bunch to a 30-mm-long dielectric-lined waveguide and tuning the frequency of a 20-period terahertz pulse to the phase-velocity-matched value, precise and sustained acceleration for nearly 100% of the electrons is achieved with the beam energy spread essentially unchanged. Furthermore, by accurately controlling the phase of two terahertz pulses, the beam is stably accelerated successively in two dielectric waveguides with close to 100% charge coupling efficiency. Our results demonstrate stable and scalable beam acceleration in a multistage miniaccelerator and pave the way for functioning terahertz-driven high-energy accelerators.

Terahertz Radiation from Combined Metallic Slit Arrays

We report an approach to efficiently generate terahertz radiation from a combined periodic structure. The proposed configuration is composed of two metallic slit arrays deliberately designed with different periodic length, slit width and depth. We found that the combination of the two slit arrays could provide special electromagnetic modes, which exhibit nonradiative property above the surface of one slit array and radiative property inside the other one. An electron beam holding proper energy could resonate with those modes to generate strong and directional electromagnetic radiations in the terahertz regime, indicating that the approach has the potential in developing high-performance terahertz radiation sources.

Ultrafast Multiharmonic Plasmon Generation by Optically Dressed Electrons

Interactions between electrons and photons are a source of rich physics from atomic to astronomical scales. Here, we examine a new kind of electron-photon interaction in which an electron, modulated by light, radiates multiple harmonics of plasmons. The emitted plasmons can be femtosecond in duration and nanometer in spatial scale. The extreme subwavelength nature of the plasmons lowers the necessary input light intensity by at least 4 orders of magnitude relative to state-of-the-art strong-field processes involving bound or free electrons. The results presented here reveal a new means of ultrafast (10-1000 fs) interconversion between photonic and plasmonic energy, and a general scheme for generating spatiotemporally shaped ultrashort pulses in optical materials. More generally, our results suggest a route towards realizing analogues of fascinating physical phenomena like nonlinear Compton scattering in plasmonics and nanophotonics with relatively low intensities, slow electrons, and on nanometer length scales.

Attosecond single-cycle undulator light: a review

Research at modern light sources continues to improve our knowledge of the natural world, from the subtle workings of life to matter under extreme conditions. Free-electron lasers, for instance, have enabled the characterization of biomolecular structures with sub-ångström spatial resolution, and paved the way to controlling the molecular functions. On the other hand, attosecond temporal resolution is necessary to broaden our scope of the ultrafast world. Here we discuss attosecond pulse generation beyond present capabilities. Furthermore, we review three recently proposed methods of generating attosecond x-ray pulses. These novel methods exploit the coherent radiation of microbunched electrons in undulators and the tailoring of the emitted wavefronts. The computed pulse energy outperforms pre-existing technologies by three orders of magnitude. Specifically, our simulations of the proposed Soft X-ray Laser at MAX IV (Lund, Sweden) show that a pulse duration of 50-100 as and a pulse energy up to 5 [Formula: see text]J is feasible with the novel methods. In addition, the methods feature pulse shape control, enable the incorporation of orbital angular momentum, and can be used in combination with modern compact free-electron laser setups.

Computational screening of organic polymer dielectrics for novel accelerator technologies

The use of infrared lasers to power accelerating dielectric structures is a developing area of research. Within this technology, the choice of the dielectric material forming the accelerating structures, such as the photonic band gap (PBG) structures, is dictated by a range of interrelated factors including their dielectric and optical properties, amenability to photo-polymerization, thermochemical stability and other target performance metrics of the particle accelerator. In this direction, electronic structure theory aided computational screening and design of dielectric materials can play a key role in identifying potential candidate materials with the targeted functionalities to guide experimental synthetic efforts. In an attempt to systematically understand the role of chemistry in controlling the electronic structure and dielectric properties of organic polymeric materials, here we employ empirical screening and density functional theory (DFT) computations, as a part of our multi-step hierarchal screening strategy. Our DFT based analysis focused on the bandgap, dielectric permittivity, and frequency-dependent dielectric losses due to lattice absorption as key properties to down-select promising polymer motifs. In addition to the specific application of dielectric laser acceleration, the general methodology presented here is deemed to be valuable in the design of new insulators with an attractive combination of dielectric properties.

Experimental Characterization of Electron-Beam-Driven Wakefield Modes in a Dielectric-Woodpile Cartesian Symmetric Structure

Photonic structures operating in the terahertz (THz) spectral region enable the essential characteristics of confinement, modal control, and electric field shielding for very high gradient accelerators based on wakefields in dielectrics. We report here an experimental investigation of THz wakefield modes in a three-dimensional photonic woodpile structure. Selective control in exciting or suppressing of wakefield modes with a nonzero transverse wave vector is demonstrated by using drive beams of varying transverse ellipticity. Additionally, we show that the wakefield spectrum is insensitive to the offset position of strongly elliptical beams. These results are consistent with analytic theory and three-dimensional simulations and illustrate a key advantage of wakefield systems with Cartesian symmetry: the suppression of transverse wakes by elliptical beams.

Demonstration of sub-luminal propagation of single-cycle terahertz pulses for particle acceleration

The sub-luminal phase velocity of electromagnetic waves in free space is generally unobtainable, being closely linked to forbidden faster than light group velocities. The requirement of sub-luminal phase-velocity in laser-driven particle acceleration schemes imposes a limit on the total acceleration achievable in free space, and necessitates the use of dispersive structures or waveguides for extending the field-particle interaction. We demonstrate a travelling source approach that overcomes the sub-luminal propagation limits. The approach exploits ultrafast optical sources with slow group velocity propagation, and a group-to-phase front conversion through nonlinear optical interaction. The concept is demonstrated with two terahertz generation processes, nonlinear optical rectification and current-surge rectification. We report measurements of longitudinally polarised single-cycle electric fields with phase and group velocity between 0.77c and 1.75c. The ability to scale to multi-megavolt-per-metre field strengths is demonstrated. Our approach paves the way towards the realisation of cheap and compact particle accelerators with femtosecond scale control of particles.Controlled generation of terahertz radiation with subluminal phase velocities is a key issue in laser-driven particle acceleration. Here, the authors demonstrate a travelling-source approach utilizing the group-to-phase front conversion to overcome the sub-luminal propagation limit.

Roadmap to the Future

Most particle accelerators today are expensive devices found only in the largest laboratories, industries, and hospitals. Using techniques developed nearly a century ago, the limiting performance of these accelerators is often traceable to material limitations, power source capabilities, and the cost tolerance of the application. Advanced accelerator concepts a aim to increase the gradient of accelerators by orders of magnitude, using new power sources (e.g. lasers and relativistic beams) and new materials (e.g. dielectrics, metamaterials, and plasmas). Worldwide, research in this area has grown steadily in intensity since the 1980s, resulting in demonstrations of accelerating gradients that are orders of magnitude higher than for conventional techniques. While research is still in the early stages, these techniques have begun to demonstrate the potential to radically change accelerators, making them much more compact, and extending the reach of these tools of science into the angstrom and attosecond realms. Maturation of these techniques into robust, engineered devices will require sustained interdisciplinary, collaborative R&D and coherent use of test infrastructure worldwide. The outcome can potentially transform how accelerators are used.

Generation of Ramped Current Profiles in Relativistic Electron Beams Using Wakefields in Dielectric Structures

Temporal pulse tailoring of charged-particle beams is essential to optimize efficiency in collinear wakefield acceleration schemes. In this Letter, we demonstrate a novel phase space manipulation method that employs a beam wakefield interaction in a dielectric structure, followed by bunch compression in a permanent magnet chicane, to longitudinally tailor the pulse shape of an electron beam. This compact, passive, approach was used to generate a nearly linearly ramped current profile in a relativistic electron beam experiment carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Accelerator Test Facility. Here, we report on these experimental results including beam and wakefield diagnostics and pulse profile reconstruction techniques.

Observation of acceleration and deceleration in gigaelectron-volt-per-metre gradient dielectric wakefield accelerators

There is urgent need to develop new acceleration techniques capable of exceeding gigaelectron-volt-per-metre (GeV m⁻¹) gradients in order to enable future generations of both light sources and high-energy physics experiments. To address this need, short wavelength accelerators based on wakefields, where an intense relativistic electron beam radiates the demanded fields directly into the accelerator structure or medium, are currently under intense investigation. One such wakefield based accelerator, the dielectric wakefield accelerator, uses a dielectric lined-waveguide to support a wakefield used for acceleration. Here we show gradients of 1.347±0.020 GeV m⁻¹ using a dielectric wakefield accelerator of 15 cm length, with sub-millimetre transverse aperture, by measuring changes of the kinetic state of relativistic electron beams. We follow this measurement by demonstrating accelerating gradients of 320±17 MeV m⁻¹. Both measurements improve on previous measurements by and order of magnitude and show promise for dielectric wakefield accelerators as sources of high-energy electrons.

Wakefield accelerators are a cheaper and compact alternative to conventional particle accelerators for high-energy physics and coherent x-ray sources. Here, the authors demonstrate a field gradient in excess of a gigaelectron-volt-per-metre using a terahertz-frequency wakefield supported by a dielectric lined-waveguide.

Interaction of an Ultrarelativistic Electron Bunch Train with a W-Band Accelerating Structure: High Power and High Gradient

Electron beam interaction with high frequency structures (beyond microwave regime) has a great impact on future high energy frontier machines. We report on the generation of multimegawatt pulsed rf power at 91 GHz in a planar metallic accelerating structure driven by an ultrarelativistic electron bunch train. This slow-wave wakefield device can also be used for high gradient acceleration of electrons with a stable rf phase and amplitude which are controlled by manipulation of the bunch train. To achieve precise control of the rf pulse properties, a two-beam wakefield interferometry method was developed in which the rf pulse, due to the interference of the wakefields from the two bunches, was measured as a function of bunch separation. Measurements of the energy change of a trailing electron bunch as a function of the bunch separation confirmed the interferometry method.

Toward a terahertz-driven electron gun

Femtosecond electron bunches with keV energies and eV energy spread are needed by condensed matter physicists to resolve state transitions in carbon nanotubes, molecular structures, organic salts, and charge density wave materials. These semirelativistic electron sources are not only of interest for ultrafast electron diffraction, but also for electron energy-loss spectroscopy and as a seed for x-ray FELs. Thus far, the output energy spread (hence pulse duration) of ultrafast electron guns has been limited by the achievable electric field at the surface of the emitter, which is 10 MV/m for DC guns and 200 MV/m for RF guns. A single-cycle THz electron gun provides a unique opportunity to not only achieve GV/m surface electric fields but also with relatively low THz pulse energies, since a single-cycle transform-limited waveform is the most efficient way to achieve intense electric fields. Here, electron bunches of 50 fC from a flat copper photocathode are accelerated from rest to tens of eV by a microjoule THz pulse with peak electric field of 72 MV/m at 1 kHz repetition rate. We show that scaling to the readily-available GV/m THz field regime would translate to monoenergetic electron beams of ~100 keV.

Terahertz-driven linear electron acceleration

The cost, size and availability of electron accelerators are dominated by the achievable accelerating gradient. Conventional high-brightness radio-frequency accelerating structures operate with 30–50 MeV m⁻¹ gradients. Electron accelerators driven with optical or infrared sources have demonstrated accelerating gradients orders of magnitude above that achievable with conventional radio-frequency structures. However, laser-driven wakefield accelerators require intense femtosecond sources and direct laser-driven accelerators suffer from low bunch charge, sub-micron tolerances and sub-femtosecond timing requirements due to the short wavelength of operation. Here we demonstrate linear acceleration of electrons with keV energy gain using optically generated terahertz pulses. Terahertz-driven accelerating structures enable high-gradient electron/proton accelerators with simple accelerating structures, high repetition rates and significant charge per bunch. These ultra-compact terahertz accelerators with extremely short electron bunches hold great potential to have a transformative impact for free electron lasers, linear colliders, ultrafast electron diffraction, X-ray science and medical therapy with X-rays and electron beams.

Pulses of light offer a way to create particle accelerators that are a fraction of the size of conventional approaches. Here, the authors demonstrate the linear acceleration of electrons with kiloelectronvolt energy gain and in extremely short bunches using optically-generated terahertz pulses.

Planar-dielectric-wakefield accelerator structure using Bragg-reflector boundaries

We report experimental measurements of narrow-band, single-mode excitation, and drive beam energy modulation, in a dielectric wakefield accelerating structure with planar geometry and Bragg-reflector boundaries. A short, relativistic electron beam (∼1  ps) with moderate charge (∼100  pC) is used to drive the wakefields in the structure. The fundamental mode of the structure is reinforced by constructive interference in the alternating dielectric layers at the boundary, and is characterized by the spectral analysis of the emitted coherent Cherenkov radiation signal. Data analysis shows a narrow-band peak at 210 GHz corresponding to the fundamental mode of the structure. Simulations in both 2D and 3D provide insight into the propagating fields and reproduction of the electron beams dynamics observables and emitted radiation characteristics.

High power terahertz radiation source based on electron beam wakefields

A table top device for producing high peak power (tens of megawatts to a gigawatt) T-ray beams is described. An electron beam with a rectangular longitudinal profile is produced out of a photoinjector via stacking of the laser pulses. The beam is also run off-crest of the photoinjector rf to develop an energy chirp. After passing through a dielectric loaded waveguide, the beam's energy becomes modulated by its self-wake. In a chicane beamline following the dielectric energy-bunching section this energy modulation is converted to a density modulation-a bunch train. The density modulated beam can be sent through a power extraction section, like a dielectric loaded accelerating structure, or simply can intercept a foil target, producing THz radiation of various bandwidths and power levels.

Surface polariton Cherenkov light radiation source

A physical phenomenon has been found: in a structure of nanometal film with dielectric-medium loading, the surface polaritons excited by a uniformly moving electron bunch can be transformed into Cherenkov radiation with intensity enhancement in the medium. Based on this mechanism, the surface polariton Cherenkov light radiation source is presented and explored in the Letter. The results show that surface polariton Cherenkov light radiation source can generate radiation, from visible light to the ultraviolet frequency regime and the radiation power density can reach or even exceed 10(8) W/cm(2) depending on the beam energy and current density. It is a tunable and miniature light radiation source promising to be integrated on a chip and built into a light radiation source array.

Dielectric wakefield acceleration of a relativistic electron beam in a slab-symmetric dielectric lined waveguide

We report first evidence of wakefield acceleration of a relativistic electron beam in a dielectric-lined slab-symmetric structure. The high energy tail of a ∼60  MeV electron beam was accelerated by ∼150  keV in a 2 cm-long, slab-symmetric SiO2 waveguide, with the acceleration or deceleration clearly visible due to the use of a beam with a bifurcated longitudinal distribution that serves to approximate a driver-witness beam pair. This split-bunch distribution is verified by longitudinal reconstruction analysis of the emitted coherent transition radiation. The dielectric waveguide structure is further characterized by spectral analysis of the emitted coherent Cherenkov radiation at THz frequencies, from a single electron bunch, and from a relativistic bunch train with spacing selectively tuned to the second longitudinal mode (TM02). Start-to-end simulation results reproduce aspects of the electron beam bifurcation dynamics, emitted THz radiation properties, and the observation of acceleration in the dielectric-lined, slab-symmetric waveguide.

Ultracold electron bunch generation via plasma photocathode emission and acceleration in a beam-driven plasma blowout

Beam-driven plasma wakefield acceleration using low-ionization-threshold gas such as Li is combined with laser-controlled electron injection via ionization of high-ionization-threshold gas such as He. The He electrons are released with low transverse momentum in the focus of the copropagating, nonrelativistic-intensity laser pulse directly inside the accelerating or focusing phase of the Li blowout. This concept paves the way for the generation of sub-μm-size, ultralow-emittance, highly tunable electron bunches, thus enabling a flexible new class of an advanced free electron laser capable high-field accelerator.

Generation and characterization of electron bunches with ramped current profiles in a dual-frequency superconducting linear accelerator

We report on the successful experimental generation of electron bunches with ramped current profiles. The technique relies on impressing nonlinear correlations in the longitudinal phase space using a superconducing radio frequency linear accelerator operating at two frequencies and a current-enhancing dispersive section. The produced ~700-MeV bunches have peak currents of the order of a kilo-Ampère. Data taken for various accelerator settings demonstrate the versatility of the method and, in particular, its ability to produce current profiles that have a quasilinear dependency on the longitudinal (temporal) coordinate. The measured bunch parameters are shown, via numerical simulations, to produce gigavolt-per-meter peak accelerating electric fields with transformer ratios larger than 2 in dielectric-lined waveguides.

Experimental demonstration of wakefield acceleration in a tunable dielectric loaded accelerating structure

We report on a collinear wakefield experiment using the first tunable dielectric loaded accelerating structure. By introducing an extra layer of nonlinear ferroelectric, which has a dielectric constant sensitive to temperature and dc bias, the frequency of a dielectric loaded accelerating structure can be tuned. During the experiment, the energy of a witness bunch at a fixed delay with respect to the drive beam was measured while the temperature of the structure was scanned over a 50 °C range. The energy change corresponded to a change of more than half of the nominal structure wavelength.

Observation of narrow-band terahertz coherent Cherenkov radiation from a cylindrical dielectric-lined waveguide

We report experimental observation of narrow-band coherent Cherenkov radiation driven by a subpicosecond electron bunch traveling along the axis of a hollow cylindrical dielectric-lined waveguide. For an appropriate choice of dielectric wall thickness, a short-pulse beam current profile excites only the fundamental mode of the structure, producing energetic pulses in the terahertz range. We present detailed measurements showing a narrow emission spectrum peaked at 367 + or - 3 GHz from a 1 cm long fused silica capillary tube with submillimeter transverse dimensions, closely matching predictions. We demonstrate a 100 GHz shift in the emitted central frequency when the tube wall thickness is changed by 50 microm. Calibrated measurements of the radiated energy indicate up to 10 microJ per 60 ps pulse for an incident beam charge of 200 pC, corresponding to a peak power of approximately 150 kW.