Conductivity Induced by High-Field Terahertz Waves in Dielectric Material

Journal Article · 23 September 2019 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.134801 · OSTI ID:1560104

O’Shea, Brendan D.  ^[1]; Andonian, Gerard ^[2]; Barber, Samuel K. ^[3]; Clarke, Christine Isabel ^[4]; Hoang, Phuc D. ^[2]; Hogan, Mark J. ^[4]; Naranjo, Brian ^[2]; Williams, Oliver Brian ^[2]; Yakimenko, Vitaly ^[4]; Rosenzweig, James B. ^[2]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab
2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
3. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)

An intense, sub-picosecond, relativistic electron beam traversing a dielectric lined waveguide generates very large amplitude electric fields at terahertz (THz) frequencies through the wakefield mechanism. In recent work employing this technique to accelerate charged particles, generation of high-power, narrowband THz radiation was demonstrated [ ]. The radiated waves contain fields with measured amplitude exceeding 2 GV/m, orders of magnitude greater than those available by other THz generation techniques at narrow bandwidth. For fields approaching the GV/m level, a strong damping has been observed in SiO₂. This wave attenuation with onset near 850 MV/m, is consistent with changes to the conductivity of the dielectric lining and is characterized by a distinctive latching mechanism that is reversible on longer time scales. Here, we describe the detailed measurements that serve to clarify the underlying physical mechanisms leading to strong field-induced damping of THz radiation (hω = 1.59 meV, f = 0.38 THz) in SiO₂, a bulk, wide band-gap (8.9 eV) dielectric.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
• Contributing Organization: University of California, Los Angeles
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1560104
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 123; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English