Massachusetts Institute of Technology

William Sproull Graves

Franz Xaver Kaertner

David Eugene Moncton

Fatih Omer Ilday

Emilio Alessandro Nanni

Coherent electronic current is generated by generating and transmitting an electron bunch along a longitudinal axis. The electron bunch is then directed onto a target, wherein the target imparts a transverse spatial modulation to the electron bunch via diffraction contrast or phase contrast. The transverse spatial modulation of the electron bunch is then transferred to the longitudinal axis via an emittance exchange beamline, creating a periodically modulated distribution of coherent electronic current.

Coherent electron and radiation production using transverse spatial modulation and axial transfer

Coherent electronic current, which can be used to generate coherent radiation, is generated by first generating and transmitting an array of discrete electron beamlets from a nanocathode array along a longitudinal axis. The array of electron beamlets is then focused to reduce the spacing that separates the electron beamlets. The transverse-axis spacing of the electron beamlets is then transferred to the longitudinal axis via an emittance exchange beamline, creating a periodically modulated distribution of coherent electronic current. The coherent electronic current can then be directed into a stream of photons to generate coherent radiation.

Compact coherent current and radiation source

An x-ray source that can produce high-brilliance x-rays at a low cost and from a small footprint includes a radiofrequency (RF) photoinjector, an accelerator module (such as a linear superconducting accelerator moducle), a high-power optical laser apparatus, and a passive enhancement cavity. A stream of photons generated by the laser apparatus is accumulated in the enhancement cavity, and an electron stream from the photoinjector are then directed through the enhancement cavity to collide with the photons and generate high-brilliance x-rays via inverse-Compton scattering.

Growing community of inventors

Marblehead, MA, United States of America

William Sproull Graves