Speaker
Description
Terahertz (THz)-frequency particle acceleration provides a natural “bridge” between conventional electronic-based (radio-frequency RF) and novel photonic-based (laser plasma wakefields LWFA) drivers, offering stable, high-frequency, high-gradient fields for compact interactions, coupled with direct femtosecond-scale synchronization to the THz drive laser*. These unique properties ideally position THz technologies to enhance the capabilities of existing RF infrastructure, while also solving key challenges to help drive the transition towards compact high-gradient laser-based accelerator applications.
As a key example, I will present our latest experimental results and simulations demonstrating efficient THz-driven chirping and energy modulation of relativistic electron bunches, enabling the compression of ultrashort bunches and picosecond-spaced bunch trains with femtosecond-scale "temporal-locking" to the THz drive laser**. These results unlock a potential array of advanced electron-laser applications requiring precise synchronization at the shortest timescales, such as pump-probe experiments with FEL light, single-shot ultrafast electron diffraction, electron-laser collisions to probe strong-field quantum electrodynamics and for high-quality LWFA through controlled external injection. On the latter I will discuss our work towards achieving this goal, in addition to highlighting the other unique roles THz technologies can play in the future advanced accelerator landscape.
Footnotes
M.T. Hibberd et al. Acceleration of relativistic beams using laser-generated terahertz pulses. Nat. Photonics 14, 755–759 (2020).
*M.T. Hibberd et al. Terahertz control of relativistic electron beams for femtosecond bunching and laser-synchronized temporal locking, arXiv:2508.20685.
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