Theoretical investigation of a tunable free-electron light source

Enhanced THz Smith-Purcell radiation based on the grating grooves with holes array

Smith-Purcell radiation is emitted when an electron passes above the surface of a metallic grating. Its mechanism can be explained with Huygens' principle by the radiation of a moving oscillating dipole, which is formed by the moving charge and its image in the metallic grating. Here, an alternative way is presented to enhance the THz Smith-Purcell radiation. By drilling a hole in the fins of a grating as an effective electron channel, the oscillation dipole happens in two dimensions here, instead of one dimension. As a result, the Smith-Purcell radiation power is ten times more than the case in which the electron passes very close to the grating surface. This method is expected to improve the efficiency of the devices which are based on the Smith-Purcell radiation.

Extending the Frequency Range of Surface Plasmon Polariton Mode with Meta-Material

The frequency range that surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode exists is mainly limited by the metal material. With high permittivity dielectrics above metal surface, the SPP mode at high frequency has extremely large loss or can be cutoff, which limits the potential applications of SPP in the field of optical interconnection, active SPP devices and so on. To extend the frequency range of SPP mode, the surface mode guided by metal/dielectric multilayers meta-material has been studied based on the theory of electromagnetic field. It is demonstrated that surface mode not only could be supported by the meta-material but also extends the frequency to where conventional metal SPP cannot exist. Meanwhile, the characteristics of this surface mode, such as dispersion relation, frequency range, propagation loss and skin depth in meta-material and dielectrics, are also studied. It is indicated that, by varying the structure parameters, the meta-material guided SPP mode presents its advantages and flexibility over traditional metal one.

Broad-tunable terahertz source with over-mode waveguide driven by train of electron bunches

A broad-tunable free electron terahertz radiation source is proposed. In this source, a train of electron bunches with tunable bunching frequency is produced by a photocathode based DC-gun under excitation of a train of tunable laser pulses. These electron bunches are then applied to excite an over-mode waveguide, in which diverse guided modes are coupled into radiation with frequency determined by the bunching frequency. By this means, the tunable radiation with frequency extending from 0.1 THz to 1.2 THz can be obtained from one single structure model. In addition, compared with other sources, the proposed source is compact and easily achievable.

Terahertz radiation from high-order guided mode excited by a train of electron bunches

A new radiation scheme, which adopts the high-order harmonics of a train of electron bunches to excite the high-order guided mode, is proposed and investigated by numerical simulations. By applying this scheme, the radiation with frequency close to 1 THz is generated from a waveguide with relatively big-size structure, and the bunching frequency is much lower than the radiation frequency. This scheme may offer a promising candidate for practical terahertz source since it breaks the two main bottlenecks of the vacuum electronic devices in the terahertz region: very tiny-size structure and unapproachable electron beam.

Motion-induced radiation from electrons moving in Maxwell's fish-eye

In Čerenkov radiation and transition radiation, evanescent wave from motion of charged particles transfers into radiation coherently. However, such dissipative motion-induced radiations require particles to move faster than light in medium or to encounter velocity transition to pump energy. Inspired by a method to detect cloak by observing radiation of a fast-moving electron bunch going through it by Zhang et al., we study the generation of electron-induced radiation from electrons' interaction with Maxwell's fish-eye sphere. Our calculation shows that the radiation is due to a combination of Čerenkov radiation and transition radiation, which may pave the way to investigate new schemes of transferring evanescent wave to radiation.

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.

Enhanced coherent terahertz Smith-Purcell superradiation excited by two electron-beams

This paper presents the studies on the enhanced coherent THz Smith-Purcell superradiation excited by two pre-bunched electron beams that pass through the 1-D sub-wavelength holes array. The Smith-Purcell superradiation has been clearly observed. The radiation emitting out from the system has the radiation angle matching the 2nd harmonic frequency component of the pre-bunched electron beams. The results show that the two electron beams can be coupled with each other through the holes array so that the intensity of the radiated field has been enhanced about twice higher than that excited by one electron beam. Consequently superradiation at the frequency of 0.62 THz can be generated with 20A/cm(2) current density of electron beam based on above mechanism. The advantages of low injection current density and 2nd harmonic radiation promise the potential applications in the development of electron-beam driven THz sources.