Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser

A conventional free-electron laser is useful but large, driven by a beam with many relativistic electrons. Although, recently, keV electron beams have been used to excite broadband radiation from material chips, there remains a quest for a chip-size free-electron laser capable of emitting coherent r...

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Main Authors: Yen-Chieh Huang, Luo-Hao Peng, Hossein Shirvani, Wen-Chi Chen, Karthickraj Muthuramalingam, Wei-Chih Wang, Andrzej Szczepkowicz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2022-09-01
Series:APL Photonics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0097486
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author Yen-Chieh Huang
Luo-Hao Peng
Hossein Shirvani
Wen-Chi Chen
Karthickraj Muthuramalingam
Wei-Chih Wang
Andrzej Szczepkowicz
author_facet Yen-Chieh Huang
Luo-Hao Peng
Hossein Shirvani
Wen-Chi Chen
Karthickraj Muthuramalingam
Wei-Chih Wang
Andrzej Szczepkowicz
author_sort Yen-Chieh Huang
collection DOAJ
description A conventional free-electron laser is useful but large, driven by a beam with many relativistic electrons. Although, recently, keV electron beams have been used to excite broadband radiation from material chips, there remains a quest for a chip-size free-electron laser capable of emitting coherent radiation. Unfortunately, those keV emitters from electron microscopes or dielectric laser accelerators usually deliver a small current with discrete moving electrons separated by a distance of a few or tens of microns. To envisage a chip-size free-electron laser as a powerful research tool, we study in this paper achievable laser radiation from a single electron and an array of single electrons atop a nano-grating dielectric waveguide. In our study, thanks to the strong coupling between the electron and the guided wave in a structure with distributed feedback, a single 50-keV electron generates 1.5-µm laser-like radiation at the Bragg resonance of a 31-µm long silicon grating with a 400-nm thickness and 310-nm period. When driven by a train of single electrons repeating at 0.1 PHz, the nano-grating waveguide emits strong laser radiation at the second harmonic of the excitation frequency. A discrete spectrum of Smith–Purcell radiation mediated by the waveguide modes is also predicted in theory and observed from simulation in the vacuum space above the grating waveguide. This study opens up the opportunity for applications requiring combined advantages from compact high-brightness electron and photon sources.
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spelling doaj.art-a730aa74c252462ea2547b9d69ea4d7b2022-12-22T03:49:52ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Photonics2378-09672022-09-0179096101096101-1010.1063/5.0097486Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laserYen-Chieh Huang0Luo-Hao Peng1Hossein Shirvani2Wen-Chi Chen3Karthickraj Muthuramalingam4Wei-Chih Wang5Andrzej Szczepkowicz6Institute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Photonics Technologies, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Nanoengineering and MicroSystems, Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Nanoengineering and MicroSystems, Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, TaiwanInstitute of Experimental Physics, University of Wroclaw, Plac M. Borna 9, 50-204 Wroclaw, PolandA conventional free-electron laser is useful but large, driven by a beam with many relativistic electrons. Although, recently, keV electron beams have been used to excite broadband radiation from material chips, there remains a quest for a chip-size free-electron laser capable of emitting coherent radiation. Unfortunately, those keV emitters from electron microscopes or dielectric laser accelerators usually deliver a small current with discrete moving electrons separated by a distance of a few or tens of microns. To envisage a chip-size free-electron laser as a powerful research tool, we study in this paper achievable laser radiation from a single electron and an array of single electrons atop a nano-grating dielectric waveguide. In our study, thanks to the strong coupling between the electron and the guided wave in a structure with distributed feedback, a single 50-keV electron generates 1.5-µm laser-like radiation at the Bragg resonance of a 31-µm long silicon grating with a 400-nm thickness and 310-nm period. When driven by a train of single electrons repeating at 0.1 PHz, the nano-grating waveguide emits strong laser radiation at the second harmonic of the excitation frequency. A discrete spectrum of Smith–Purcell radiation mediated by the waveguide modes is also predicted in theory and observed from simulation in the vacuum space above the grating waveguide. This study opens up the opportunity for applications requiring combined advantages from compact high-brightness electron and photon sources.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0097486
spellingShingle Yen-Chieh Huang
Luo-Hao Peng
Hossein Shirvani
Wen-Chi Chen
Karthickraj Muthuramalingam
Wei-Chih Wang
Andrzej Szczepkowicz
Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
APL Photonics
title Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
title_full Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
title_fullStr Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
title_full_unstemmed Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
title_short Single-electron nano-chip free-electron laser
title_sort single electron nano chip free electron laser
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0097486
work_keys_str_mv AT yenchiehhuang singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT luohaopeng singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT hosseinshirvani singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT wenchichen singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT karthickrajmuthuramalingam singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT weichihwang singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser
AT andrzejszczepkowicz singleelectronnanochipfreeelectronlaser