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 a new class of sources based on superradiant enhancement of radiation from relativistic ultrashort electron bunches in a compact electron accelerator is presented that could revolutionize experiments in this field. The prototype source generates high-field THz pulses at unprecedented quasi-continuous-wave repetition rates up to the MHz regime. Parameters are demonstrated 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. Benchmark coherent control experiments proof the superior performance and testify few 10 fs resolution.


Seminar, July 8, 2015, 15:00. Seminar Room

Hosted by Prof. Simon Wall