Beatwave Photoinjector as THz Source

This project will design a tabletop photoelectron gun that provides a subpicosecond-to-femtosecond, high-brightness, electron beam source for a broad variety of applications in DoE accelerators. In this approach, a radio frequency (RF) gun will be integrated with a robust, efficient, high-peak-power (100¿s of kW to MW), coherent sub-mm-wave radiator. The key technology involves the use of a dielectric-based, miniature (~1cm length) power extractor that is driven by a low-energy (~1.5 to 3 MeV) photoinjector and is pre-modulated at THz frequencies, with a laser beat-wave occurring on the photocathode surface. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: The technology should advance the state of the art of electron-beam-driven radiation sources and instruments by developing a new class of micro-bunched electron beams that are sub-ps/femtosecond, high-quality, and low-energy. Such compact sources should be applicable to super-radiant Free Electron Lasers (FELs), the next generation of pulse electron microscopes, and advanced X-ray Compton sources.