Optical Scale Laser-Driven Electron Accelerators for Attosecond Radiation Sources

粒子加速器在许多领域都是重要的科学和工业工具，从探测物质基本水平的结构到工业放射性同位素生产、医疗放射治疗和安全扫描仪。在过去的两年里，人们首次展示了一种革命性的新方法，它将微芯片行业的制造方法与现代激光相结合，大大缩小了粒子加速器的尺寸和成本。这为创造未来一代小型化的“芯片加速器”设备打开了大门，这种设备可以用来在前所未有的短时间尺度上产生辐射脉冲，时间尺度小于十亿分之一秒。这种未来的加速器可能会为科学研究开辟新的途径，包括制作揭示自然界一些速度最快事件的内部运作的“分子电影”的潜力。在这个项目中工作的学生将通过与来自多个科学领域的教师以及斯坦福大学、加州大学洛杉矶分校、特拉维夫大学和SLAC国家加速器实验室的不同研究人员进行互动，获得无与伦比的深度教育。该项目是一个为期三年的合作项目，旨在推进激光驱动纳米软化介质激光加速器(DLA)的概念，最终目标是制造兼容的超短脉冲辐射源。这种方法被俗称为“芯片上的加速器”。不同的基本组件将由合作小组开发，包括理论、设计和在斯坦福大学、特拉维夫大学、SLAC国家加速器实验室和加州大学洛杉矶分校的实验室演示。用于这些试验的粒子源和低能量加速器的开发将与德国Erlangen大学密切合作。基于高次谐波(超辐射)辐射的潜在短波长相干辐射源和飞秒到阿秒脉冲的自由电子激光放大方案，将发展DLA辐射方案的理论。NSF计划将支持一名研究生在该领域的研究，与合作机构的教职员工、科学人员和学生一起致力于这些概念的设计、制造和测试，以提供无与伦比的多学科教育体验。

Particle accelerators are a critical scientific and industrial tool in many fields, from probing the structure of matter at its fundamental levels to industrial radioisotope production, medical radiation therapy, and security scanners. In the past two years, the first demonstrations have been conducted of a revolutionary new approach that combines the fabrication methods of the microchip industry with modern lasers to greatly shrink the size and cost of particle accelerators. This opens the door to creating a future generation of miniaturized "accelerator on a chip" devices that could be used to produce pulses of radiation on unprecedentedly short time scales, shorter than one millionth of a billionth of a second. Such accelerators of the future could open new avenues of scientific research, including the potential for making "molecular movies" that reveal the inner workings of some of nature's fastest events. Students working in this program will receive an education of unrivaled depth by interacting with faculties from multiple scientific fields as well as the diverse communities of researchers at Stanford, UCLA, Tel-Aviv University, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory where much of the experimental work will take place.This project is a three-year collaborative program to advance the concept of a laser-powered nanofabricated dielectric laser accelerator (DLA) with the ultimate goal of making compatible ultra-short pulsed radiation sources. This approach has been colloquially referred to as an "accelerator on a chip." The different essential components will be developed by the collaborating groups, including theory, design, and laboratory demonstrations at Stanford University, Tel-Aviv University, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and University of California Los Angeles. The development of the particle source and low-energy accelerator for these tests will occur in close collaboration with Erlangen University, Germany. The theory of DLA radiation schemes will be developed for potential short-wavelength coherent radiation sources based on high-harmonic (super-radiant) emission and free electron laser amplification schemes with femtosecond to attosecond pulses. The NSF program will support the research of one graduate student in this field, working on design, fabrication, and testing of these concepts in conjunction with faculty, scientific staff, and students at the collaborating institutions to provide an unparalleled and multi-disciplinary educational experience.