A compact electron source for the dielectric laser accelerator
Tomohiko Hirano, Karel Urbánek, Andrew Ceballos, Dylan S. Black, Yu Miao, R. J. England, Robert L. Byer, Kenneth J. Leedle
Abstract
In this work, we design and demonstrate a compact electron source that combines an integrated silicon nanotip photoemitter with a compact silicon-based electrostatic lens. The lens simultaneously accelerates electrons to 30 keV and focuses the resulting beam to a 0.4 μm (RMS) beam diameter with 62 pm-rad normalized emittance at a distance of 20 mm from the cathode. The compact nature of this lens provides a compelling source for dielectric laser accelerator (DLA) beamlines, ultrafast electron diffraction, or ultrafast electron microscopy. Driven by a 220 fs, 1960 nm pulsed laser beam, electron currents up to 28 electrons/pulse at 100 kHz are demonstrated. The electron bunch length is 540 ± 50 fs for photocurrents of <1 electron/pulse, increasing to 700 ± 80 fs for 28 electrons/pulse, as measured by cross correlation with a 220 fs pulsed laser beam. The maximum 5D peak brightness is measured to be 6.8 × 1013 A/(m2 rad2) at 28 electrons/pulse. These results represent a significant step toward developing practical benchtop-sized linear accelerators based on DLA technology or compact ultrafast electron microscopy and diffraction applications.