High Gradient Silicon Carbide Immersion Lens Ultrafast Electron Sources

TL;DR

This paper introduces two compact ultrafast electron injectors with integrated focusing, achieving high brightness and high acceleration gradients using silicon carbide electrodes and nanotip emitters, suitable for advanced electron applications.

Contribution

The paper presents novel compact ultrafast electron sources with integrated focusing and high brightness, utilizing silicon carbide electrodes and nanotip emitters, with nearly doubled acceleration gradients compared to typical sources.

Findings

Achieved peak brightness of up to 1.9×10^{12} A/m^2Sr^2.

Demonstrated immersion lens electron sources at 96 keV and 57 keV.

Attained average acceleration gradients of 19 kV/mm, nearly double standard values.

Abstract

We present two compact ultrafast electron injector designs with integrated focusing that provide high peak brightness of up to $1.9*10^{12} A/m^2Sr^2$ with 10s of electrons per laser pulse using silicon carbide electrodes and silicon nanotip emitters. We demonstrate a few centimeter scale 96 keV immersion lens electron source and a 57 keV immersion lens electron source with a 19 kV/mm average acceleration gradient, nearly double the typical 10 kV/mm used in DC electron sources. The brightness of the electron sources is measured alongside start-to-end simulations including space charge effects. These sources are suitable for dielectric laser accelerator experiments, ultrafast electron diffraction, and other applications where a compact high brightness electron source is required.