超紧凑型飞秒电子衍射仪的设计

由于空间电荷效应的限制,产生百飞秒的极短电子脉冲是超快电子衍射技术的一大难点.同时,电子的穿透深度随着电子能量的增加而增加,而电子的散射几率却具有相反的规律.因而,除了时间分辨的提升,还需要可宽范围调节的电子能量以优化不同厚度样品对其的需求.基于此,提出并设计了一种新型超紧凑电子枪,结合均匀场阴极和可移动阳极的配置,可在10-125 kV加速电压范围内实现100 fs量级时间分辨率.通过优化设计高压电极轮廓,使得其轴上和整个阴极面的场增强因子在不同阴阳极间距下均小于约4%,从而保证了不同加速电压下最大轴上场强均可达10 MV/m量级,有效地抑制了电子脉冲的展宽效应;进一步将阳极小孔设计成可放置致密电镜载网的阶梯孔,一方面可将载网支撑的样品紧贴小孔后方放置,最大程度上缩短了电子从阴极到样品的时间弥散,同时也可以有效地减弱阳极孔对电子束的散焦效应,提升电子束的横向聚焦性能.     

Ultrafast electron pulses from a tungsten tip triggered by low-power femtosecond laser pulses

We present an experimental and numerical study of electron emission from a sharp tungsten tip triggered by sub-8-fs low-power laser pulses. This process is nonlinear in the laser electric field, and the nonlinearity can be tuned via the dc voltage applied to the tip. Numerical simulations of this system show that electron emission takes place within less than one optical period of the exciting laser pulse, so that an 8 fs 800 nm laser pulse is capable of producing a single electron pulse of less than 1 fs duration. Furthermore, we find that the carrier-envelope phase dependence of the emission process is smaller than 0.1% for an 8 fs pulse but is steeply increasing with decreasing laser pulse duration.     

Ultrashort pulse electron gun with a MHz repetition rate

We report the construction of an electron gun emitting ultrashort pulses with a repetition rate of 2.7 MHz. The gun works at an acceleration voltage of 20 kV and is operated with a laser oscillator having an ultralong cavity. A low number of electrons per pulse eliminates space charge broadening. Electron yield and beam profiles are measured for operation with laser wavelengths of 800, 400, and 266 nm. The initial energy spread of the electrons is determined for these three wavelengths, and pulse durations of 600, 390, and 270 fs are inferred from the data.     

Numerical simulation and design of a thermionic electron gun

This paper reports the simulation of an electron gun. The effects on the beam quality of some parameters on the beam quality were studied and optimal choices were identified. It gives numerical beam qualities for a common electrostatic triode gun, and the dependencies on design parameters such as electrode geometries and bias voltages to these electrodes are shown. An electron beam of diameter 5 mm with energy of 5 ke V was assumed for the simulation process. Some design parameters were identified as variable parameters in the presence of space charge.These parameters are the inclination angle of emission electrode, the applied voltage to the focusing electrode, the gap width between the emission electrode and the focusing electrode and the diameter of the focusing electrode. The triode extraction system is designed and optimized by using CST software(for Particle Beam Simulations). The physical design of the extraction system is given in this paper. From the simulation results, it is concluded that the inclination angle of the emission electrode is optimized at 22.5?, the applied voltage to the focusing electrode was optimized and found to be Vfoc =-600 V, the optimal separation distance(gap between emission electrode and focusing electrode) is 4 mm, and the optimal diameter of the emission electrode is 14 mm. Initial results for these efforts aimed at emittance improvement are also given.     

Generation of 0.4-keV femtosecond electron pulses using impulsively excited surface plasmons

We demonstrate the generation of 0.4-keV, sub-27 fs electron pulses using low-intensity laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire oscillator through the excitation of surface plasmon waves on a time scale within the plasmon lifetime. Modeling of the ponderomotive electron pulse acceleration yields electron energy spectra that are in excellent agreement with the observed ones. Our work opens a doorway for time-resolved experimentation using low-power, high-repetition rate laser pulses.     

Femtosecond electron pulse characterization using laser ponderomotive scattering

We demonstrate a method for the measurement of the instantaneous duration of femtosecond electron pulses using the ponderomotive force of an intense ultrashort laser pulse. An analysis procedure for the extraction of the electron pulse duration from the transient change of the transverse electron beam profile is proposed. The durations of the electron pulses generated in our setup were determined to be 410+/-30 fs.     

Wiggler聚焦带状注速调管电子光学系统的设计

带状注速调管可以在高频段实现高功率微波输出,电子光学系统是带状注速调管的关键部件。阐述了Wiggler双平面聚焦理论,设计了新型椭圆形柱面阴极和椭圆形聚焦极结构,阴极曲率半径为17 mm,长轴10 mm,短轴4 mm;聚焦极长轴28.8 mm,短轴10.4 mm。采用这种结构可以直接产生椭圆形带状电子注,且阴极发射电流密度较为均匀。设计了周期长度为8 mm,总长度为108 mm,中间带有凹槽并可以实现双平面聚焦的Wiggler结构,模拟显示电子注填充因子在75%左右,通过率达到100%。设计了新型的菱形收集极结构,电子轨迹在收集极内发散均匀。     

Wiggler聚焦带状注速调管电子光学系统的设计

 带状注速调管可以在高频段实现高功率微波输出,电子光学系统是带状注速调管的关键部件。阐述了Wiggler双平面聚焦理论,设计了新型椭圆形柱面阴极和椭圆形聚焦极结构,阴极曲率半径为17 mm,长轴10 mm,短轴4 mm;聚焦极长轴28.8 mm,短轴10.4 mm。采用这种结构可以直接产生椭圆形带状电子注,且阴极发射电流密度较为均匀。设计了周期长度为8 mm,总长度为108 mm,中间带有凹槽并可以实现双平面聚焦的Wiggler结构,模拟显示电子注填充因子在75%左右,通过率达到100%。设计了新型的菱形收集极结构,电子轨迹在收集极内发散均匀。     

Control over the space-time structure of electron beams by high-intensity femtosecond laser radiation

The space-velocity distribution of electrons propagating in vacuum can be deformed by the ponderomotive potential produced by high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses, which makes it possible to subsequently separate such electrons from the initial beam. It is shown that optical modification of electron beams with kinetic energies on the order of 100 eV by femtosecond laser radiation with an intensity from 10¹⁴ to 10¹⁸ W/cm² makes it possible to form electron beams with a duration on the order of 50–100 fs. Examples of optical control over the shape of electron beams, based on deflection, reflection, focusing, and splitting of electron beams, are considered.     

Field emission tip as a nanometer source of free electron femtosecond pulses

We report a source of free electron pulses based on a field emission tip irradiated by a low-power femtosecond laser. The electron pulses are shorter than 70 fs and originate from a tip with an emission area diameter down to 2 nm. Depending on the operating regime we observe either photofield emission or optical field emission with up to 200 electrons per pulse at a repetition rate of 1 GHz. This pulsed electron emitter, triggered by a femtosecond oscillator, could serve as an efficient source for time-resolved electron interferometry, for time-resolved nanometric imaging and for synchrotrons.     

高电流密度圆柱状电子光学系统设计

设计了高电流密度圆柱状电子枪,并分析了枪体参数对电子注品质的影响;运用径向力平衡理论计算了聚焦磁场.三维模拟软件CSTPARTICLESTUDIO模拟显示,在枪体电极和空间电荷形成的静电场,以及聚焦磁场作用下,电子呈角向先变速后匀速螺旋状运动,其旋转半径始终与出射阴极面时的半径相同,从而在枪区和互作用通道内维持了注包络水平.模拟结果与设计理论相符.注平均电流密度达到24·4A/cm2,层流性良好,填充因子76·7%,流通率100%.     

毫米波速调管电子光学系统的研究

电子光学系统是毫米波速调管长寿命和整管性能实现的关键,毫米波速调管零件尺寸较小,为了在Ka波段和W波段实现千瓦量级的输出功率,要求具有高的电子注通过率及低的阴极负荷。对Ka波段和W波段电子光学系统特性进行了分析,确定了Ka波段10 kW分布作用速调管和W波段1 kW分布作用速调管电子光学系统的设计方案,利用软件对电子枪和聚焦系统的结构进行计算,并采用CST仿真软件对设计的电子枪发射的电子注在聚焦磁场中的状态进行优化。设计出的Ka波段速调管电子光学系统,电子枪工作电压26 kV,发射电流2 A,互作用区长度30 mm,磁场强度大于0.6 T,流通达到100%。设计的W波段速调管电子光学系统,电子枪工作电压17 kV,电流0.65 A,互作用区长度20 mm,磁场大于0.9 T,流通达到100%。已制成Ka波段速调管和W波段速调管,设计的电子光学系统能够满足速调管工程化需求。     

Electro-optic technique with improved time resolution for real-time, nondestructive, single-shot measurements of femtosecond electron bunch profiles

Electro-optic detection of the Coulomb field of a relativistic electron bunch combined with single-shot cross correlation of optical pulses is used to enable single-shot measurements of the shape and length of femtosecond electron bunches. This method overcomes a fundamental time-resolution limit of previous single-shot electro-optic measurements, which arises from the inseparability of time and frequency properties of the probing optical pulse. Using this new technique we have made real-time measurements of a 50 MeV electron bunch, observing the profile of 650 fs FWHM ( approximately 275 fs rms) long bunches.     

紧聚焦飞秒脉冲与石英玻璃相互作用过程中的电子动量弛豫时间研究

本文通过数值模拟(3+1)维扩展的广义非线性薛定谔方程,研究了紧聚焦飞秒激光脉冲在诱导石英玻璃的非线性电离过程中电子动量弛豫时间对于该电离过程的影响.计算结果证明电子动量弛豫时间会直接影响入射脉冲在焦点区域所形成的峰值场强、自由电子态密度和能流等参量的分布态势,因此在与实验结果相比较后发现适合于相互作用过程的电子动量弛豫时间的理论值约为1.27 fs.进一步的研究表明,电子动量弛豫时间与逆韧致吸收效应、雪崩电离的概率、等离子体密度、等离子体的自散焦效果以及间接引起的焦平面位置的移动都有着密切的联系.当前的研究结果表明电子动量弛豫时间在飞秒激光脉冲与物质相互作用的过程中发挥着重要作用.     

Generation of monoenergetic ultrashort electron pulses from a fs laser plasma

Ultrashort high-energy electron beams are generated by focusing fs Ti:sapphire laser pulses on a thin metal tape at normal incidence. At laser intensities above 10¹⁶ W/cm² , the fs laser plasma ejects copious amounts of electrons in a direction parallel to the target surface. These electrons are directly detected by means of a backside illuminated X-ray CCD, and their energy spectrum is determined with an electrostatic analyzer. The electrons were observed for two laser polarization directions, parallel and perpendicular to the observation direction. At the maximum applied intensity of 2×10¹⁷ W/cm², the energy distribution peaks at around 35 keV with a hot tail detectable up to about 300 keV. The number of electrons per shot at 35 keV is about 5×10⁸ per sterad per keV. Quasi-monoenergetic electron pulses with a relative energy spread of 1% were produced by using a 50-m slit in the beam path after the analyzer. This approach offers great potential for time-resolved studies of plasma, liquid, and surface structures with atomic-scale spatial resolution. PACS 41.75.Fr; 52.38.Kd; 52.70.Nc     

Two‐color operation of a free‐electron laser with a tilted beam

With the successful operation of free‐electron lasers (FELs) as user facilities there has been a growing demand for experiments with two photon pulses with variable photon energy and time separation. A configuration of an undulator with variable‐gap control and a delaying chicane in the middle of the beamline is proposed. An injected electron beam with a transverse tilt will only yield FEL radiation for the parts which are close to the undulator axis. This allows, after re‐aligning and delaying the electron beam, a different part of the bunch to be used to produce a second FEL pulse. This method offers independent control in photon energy and delay. For the parameters of the soft X‐ray beamline Athos at the SwissFEL facility the photon energy tuning range is a factor of five with an adjustable delay between the two pulses from ?50 to 950 fs.     

Effects of electron relaxation on multiple harmonic generation from metal surfaces with femtosecond laser pulses

Calculations are presented for the first four (odd and even) harmonics of an 800 nm laser from a gold surface, with pulse widths ranging from 100 down to 14 fs. For peak laser intensities above 1 GW/cm² the harmonics are enhanced because of a partial depletion of the initial electron states. At 10¹¹ W/cm² of peak laser intensity the calculated conversion efficiency for 2nd-harmonic generation is 3 × 10⁻⁹, while for the 5th-harmonic it is 10⁻¹⁰. The generated harmonic pulses are broadened and delayed relative to the laser pulse because of the finite relaxation times of the excited electronic states. The finite electron relaxation times cause also the broadening of the autocorrelations of the laser pulses obtained from surface harmonic generation by two time-delayed identical pulses. Comparison with recent experimental results shows that the response time of an autocorrelator using nonlinear optical processes in a gold surface is shorter than the electron relaxation times. This seems to indicate that for laser pulses shorter than ∼30 fs, the fast nonresonant channel for multiphoton excitation via continuum-continuum transitions in metals becomes important as the resonant channel becomes slow (relative to the laser pulse) and less efficient.     

Five-wave-mixing spectroscopy of ultrafast electron dynamics at a si(001) surface

The optically induced electron dynamics at a Si(001) surface is studied using a five-wave-mixing setup which measures the diffracted second-harmonic intensity induced by three ultrashort (13 fs) laser pulses. Depending on the time ordering of the pulses, this technique is capable of monitoring the temporal evolution of photoexcited one- or two-photon coherences, or populations. For a particular pulse sequence, the experiments show a delayed rise and a decay of the diffracted signal intensity on time scales of 50 and 250 fs, respectively. This response can be described by optical Bloch equations by including rapid scattering of the photoexcited carriers in the D(down) band of Si(001).     

Diffraction of laser-plasma-generated electron pulses

We report the observation of the Debye–Scherrer diffraction using electron pulses emitted from a fs-laser plasma. Titanium sapphire laser pulses with 1.6 mJ/45 fs at 1 kHz are focused on a moving steel tape at close to normal incidence. The laser plasma generated ejects a large number of electrons in the direction of polarization, with a continuous energy spectrum extending up to 100 keV. Selecting an energy range of these electrons and scattering them on a thin aluminium sample generates a “streaked” diffraction pattern with unique features.     

Photo-triggered pulsed cavity compressor for bright electron bunches in ultrafast electron diffraction

Temporally resolved observation of microscopic structural dynamics of solids with ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) requires extremely short pulsed, highly charged, monoenergetic electron beams with sufficient transverse coherence length of several unit cells of the investigated samples. However, Coulomb repulsion defeats these parameters in free propagation of an electron pulse initially bright on the photo cathode. We demonstrate a new electron pulse compressor design based on a simple and compact RF structure incorporating a pair of gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switches that are triggered by femtosecond laser pulses, thereby providing a longitudinal voltage gradient of up to 20?V/ps. Our proof of principle experiment achieved compression of bunches containing 26,000 electrons to a duration of below 750?fs and a beam diameter of 300???m in the temporal and spatial focus of the device while maintaining the good beam collimation required for time resolved electron diffraction experiments. The simplicity of the compressor provides a strong incentive for its further development toward practical implementation in sub-relativistic UED experiments requiring the highest possible source brightness.