Abstract
Particle accelerators driven by laser-generated terahertz (THz) pulses promise unprecedented control over the energy-time phase-space of particle bunches compared with conventional radio-frequency technology. Here, we make a breakthrough achievement by demonstrating for the first time acceleration of a relativistic electron beam in a THz-driven linear accelerator. Narrowband THz pulses were tuned to the phase-velocity-matched operating frequency of a rectangular dielectric-lined waveguide for extended collinear interaction with 35 MeV, 60 pC electron bunches, imparting multi-cycle energy modulation to chirped (6 ps) bunches and injection-phase-dependent energy gain (up to 10 keV) to sub-cycle (2 ps) bunches. These proof-of-principle results establish a route to whole-bunch linear acceleration of sub-picosecond particle beams, directly applicable to scaled-up and multi-staged concepts capable of preserving beam quality, thus marking a key milestone for future THz-driven acceleration of relativistic beams.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 755-759 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nature Photonics |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Aug 2020 |
Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms
- Photon Science Institute