Megaelectronvolt electron acceleration driven by terahertz surface waves

Particles at relativistic energies form the basis of acceleration science. The emergence of terahertz-driven acceleration promises vastly smaller and cost-efficient accelerators; however, the field strength inside the acceleration structure has hitherto prevented the energy gain from reaching the me...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature photonics Vol. 17; no. 11; pp. 957 - 963
Main Authors Yu, Xie-Qiu, Zeng, Yu-Shan, Song, Li-Wei, Kong, De-Yin, Hao, Si-Bo, Gui, Jia-Yan, Yang, Xiao-Jun, Xu, Yi, Wu, Xiao-Jun, Leng, Yu-Xin, Tian, Ye, Li, Ru-Xin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 01.11.2023
Subjects
Cancer therapies
Electron acceleration
Electron energy
Electrons
Femtosecond pulsed lasers
Femtosecond pulses
Field strength
Infrared lasers
Longitudinal waves
Particle accelerators
Radiation sources
Relativistic effects
Relativistic particles
Surface waves
Transverse magnetic modes
Waveguides
Waves
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Summary:Particles at relativistic energies form the basis of acceleration science. The emergence of terahertz-driven acceleration promises vastly smaller and cost-efficient accelerators; however, the field strength inside the acceleration structure has hitherto prevented the energy gain from reaching the megaelectronvolt range. Here we demonstrate an electron energy gain of up to 1.1 MeV and an effective acceleration gradient of up to 210 MV m−1 driven by terahertz surface waves, using their strong confinement to the waveguide and the fundamental transverse magnetic mode that is favourable for acceleration. The discrepancy in the velocity between the terahertz surface waves and electrons enables potential phase-space control, including temporal compression and spatial focusing. We expect these proof-of-principle results to enable the development of a tunable and highly efficient electron accelerator driven by terahertz surface waves for application in compact microscopy, radiation sources and cancer therapies.When near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses are focused onto a metal wire, relativistic electron acceleration is observed in the attached waveguide. An electron energy gain of 1.1 MeV and an effective acceleration gradient up to 210 MV m−1 are achieved using the laser-induced terahertz surface waves.
ISSN:1749-4885
1749-4893
DOI:10.1038/s41566-023-01251-8