2018/05/11 by Guoqian Liao, Hao Liu, Yutong Li +15 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.1815256116
published as Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 3994 (2019) · 9 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2018/05/11 · arxiv updated 2019/10/08
Ultrahigh-power terahertz (THz) radiation sources are essential for many applications, such as nonlinear THz physics, THz-wave based compact accelerators, etc. However, until now none of THz sources reported, whether based upon large-scale accelerators or high power lasers, have produced THz pulses with energies above the millijoule (mJ) barrier. Here we report on the efficient generation of low-frequency (<3 THz) THz pulses with unprecedentedly high energies over 50 mJ. The THz radiation is produced by coherent transition radiation of a picosecond laser-accelerated ultra-bright bunch of relativistic electrons from a solid target. Such high energy THz pulses can not only trigger various nonlinear dynamics in matter, but also open up a new research field of relativistic THz optics.