Multiple optical harmonic generation-the multiplication of photon energy as a result of nonlinear interaction between light and matter-is a key technology in modern electronics and optoelectronics, because it allows the conversion of optical or electronic signals into signals with much higher frequency, and the generation of frequency combs. Owing to the unique electronic band structure of graphene, which features massless Dirac fermions, it has been repeatedly predicted that optical harmonic generation in graphene should be particularly efficient at the technologically important terahertz frequencies. However, these predictions have yet to be confirmed experimentally under technologically relevant operation conditions. Here we report the generation of terahertz harmonics up to the seventh order in single-layer graphene at room temperature and under ambient conditions, driven by terahertz fields of only tens of kilovolts per centimetre, and with field conversion efficiencies in excess of 10, 10 and 10 for the third, fifth and seventh terahertz harmonics, respectively. These conversion efficiencies are remarkably high, given that the electromagnetic interaction occurs in a single atomic layer. The key to such extremely efficient generation of terahertz high harmonics in graphene is the collective thermal response of its background Dirac electrons to the driving terahertz fields. The terahertz harmonics, generated via hot Dirac fermion dynamics, were observed directly in the time domain as electromagnetic field oscillations at these newly synthesized higher frequencies. The effective nonlinear optical coefficients of graphene for the third, fifth and seventh harmonics exceed the respective nonlinear coefficients of typical solids by 7-18 orders of magnitude. Our results provide a direct pathway to highly efficient terahertz frequency synthesis using the present generation of graphene electronics, which operate at much lower fundamental frequencies of only a few hundreds of gigahertz.
Ultrashort flashes of THz light with low photon energies of a few meV, but strong electric or magnetic field transients have recently been employed to prepare various fascinating nonequilibrium states in matter. Here we present a new class of sources based on superradiant enhancement of radiation from relativistic electron bunches in a compact electron accelerator that we believe will revolutionize experiments in this field. Our prototype source generates high-field THz pulses at unprecedented quasi-continuous-wave repetition rates up to the MHz regime. We demonstrate parameters that exceed state-of-the-art laser-based sources by more than 2 orders of magnitude. The peak fields and the repetition rates are highly scalable and once fully operational this type of sources will routinely provide 1 MV/cm electric fields and 0.3 T magnetic fields at repetition rates of few 100 kHz. We benchmark the unique properties by performing a resonant coherent THz control experiment with few 10 fs resolution.
Fluorescent color-center patterns have been written on surfaces of synthetic type-Ib diamonds with spatial resolution below 180 nm via irradiation with focused ion and electron beams and subsequent annealing. The patterns are detected and spectroscopically analyzed using confocal optical microscopy. From the spatial extent of the color-center distributions, the activation energy for diffusion of vacancies in diamond is determined as (2.55±0.15) eV. Detailed information about the formation of color centers in diamond is obtained employing the three-dimensional spatial resolution of the confocal microscope combined with spectral resolution. In particular, the distributions of two color centers, ascribed to different charge states of the NV defect in diamond, have been spatially mapped and shown to depend strongly on the irradiation dose.
The success of most of the proposed energy recovery linac (ERL) based electron accelerator projects for future storage ring replacements (SRR) and high power IR-free-electron lasers (FELs) largely depends on the development of an appropriate source. For example, to meet the FEL specifications [J. W. Lewellen, Proc. SPIE Int. Soc. Opt. Eng. 5534, 22 (2004)] electron beams with an unprecedented combination of high brightness, low emittance (0:1 mrad), and high average current (hundreds of mA) are required. An elegant way to create a beam of such quality is to combine the high beam quality of a normal conducting rf photoinjector with the superconducting technology, i.e., to build a superconducting rf photoinjector (SRF gun). SRF gun R&D programs based on different approaches have been launched at a growing number of institutes and companies (AES, Beijing University, BESSY, BNL, DESY, FZD, TJNAF, Niowave, NPS, Wisconsin University). Substantial progress was achieved in recent years and the first long term operation was demonstrated at FZD [R. Xiang et al., in
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