Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology have demonstrated the scattering of subpicosecond electron bunches from an ultracold electron source in a recent paper published in Physical Review Letters. Identifying new sources that produce electrons faster could help to advance the many imaging techniques that rely on electrons. “Our research group is working to develop the next generation of ultrafast electron sources to push imaging techniques such as ultrafast electron diffraction to the next level,” said Tim de Raadt, one of the researchers who carried out the study. The researchers’ source was created by photoionizing laser-cooled rubidium gas in a grating magneto-optical trap via a two-step process. In the self-compression point of this source, they measured electron bunches as short as 735±7 fs (rms).
“The idea of using laser-cooled ultracold gas clouds as an electron source to improve the state-of-the-art in brightness was first introduced in a paper published in 2005. Since then, research efforts have produced multiple versions of such a ultracold electron source, with the most recent one (used in this work) focusing on making the source compact, easy to align and operate, and being more stable, as described in another past paper that also studied the transverse electron beam properties.”
The primary objective of the recent work by de Raadt and his colleagues was to further assess the performance of the type of compact laser cooled ultracold source identified in their previous work, particularly looking at its longitudinal beam properties. By better understanding the physics behind this source, they could optimize its performance and enable its use to advance imaging techniques.
2023-05-28 14:30:04
Post from phys.org