Compact THz radiation source based on photocathode RF gun

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) science and technology have already become the research highlight at present. In this paper, we put forward a proposal to generate THz radiation at tens of MW peak power. As a result of the ultrafast laser and the high accelerating field of photocathode RF gun, we can generate and accelerate an electron beam to several MeV, of which the bunch length is less than sub-ps. When the short electron bunches are injected into the wiggler, THz radiation based on Coherent Synchrotron Radiation could be achieved with tens of MW peak power. The whole THz FEL facility can be scaled to the size of a tabletop.