Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Observation of the Relativistic Reversal of the Ponderomotive Potential.


ABSTRACT: The secular dynamics of a nonrelativistic charged particle in an electromagnetic wave can be described by the ponderomotive potential. Although ponderomotive electron-laser interactions at relativistic velocities are important for emerging technologies from laser-based particle accelerators to laser-enhanced electron microscopy, the effects of special relativity on the interaction have only been studied theoretically. Here, we use a transmission electron microscope to measure the position-dependent phase shift imparted to a relativistic electron wave function when it traverses a standing laser wave. The kinetic energy of the electrons is varied between 80 and 300 keV, and the laser standing wave has a continuous-wave intensity of 175??GW/cm^{2}. In contrast to the nonrelativistic case, we demonstrate that the phase shift depends on both the electron velocity and the wave polarization, confirming the predictions of a quasiclassical theory of the interaction. Remarkably, if the electron's speed is greater than 1/sqrt[2] of the speed of light, the phase shift at the electric field nodes of the wave can exceed that at the antinodes. In this case there exists a polarization such that the phase shifts at the nodes and antinodes are equal, and the electron does not experience Kapitza-Dirac diffraction. Our results thus provide new capabilities for coherent electron beam manipulation.

SUBMITTER: Axelrod JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7357394 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Observation of the Relativistic Reversal of the Ponderomotive Potential.

Axelrod Jeremy J JJ   Campbell Sara L SL   Schwartz Osip O   Turnbaugh Carter C   Glaeser Robert M RM   Müller Holger H  

Physical review letters 20200501 17


The secular dynamics of a nonrelativistic charged particle in an electromagnetic wave can be described by the ponderomotive potential. Although ponderomotive electron-laser interactions at relativistic velocities are important for emerging technologies from laser-based particle accelerators to laser-enhanced electron microscopy, the effects of special relativity on the interaction have only been studied theoretically. Here, we use a transmission electron microscope to measure the position-depend  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC8749006 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7576171 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8651741 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC3487478 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6637151 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC9588014 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4814776 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC5159890 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC7010783 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC8248891 | biostudies-literature