Synchrotron radiation from an accelerating light pulse

M Henstridge; C Pfeiffer; D Wang; A Boltasseva; V M Shalaev; A Grbic; R Merlin

doi:10.1126/science.aat5915

Synchrotron radiation from an accelerating light pulse

Science. 2018 Oct 26;362(6413):439-442. doi: 10.1126/science.aat5915.

Authors

M Henstridge^{1

2}, C Pfeiffer^{1

3}, D Wang^{1

4}, A Boltasseva^{1

4}, V M Shalaev^{1

4}, A Grbic^{1

3}, R Merlin^{5

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Photonics and Multiscale Nanomaterials, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, USA.
² Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
³ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁴ School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
⁵ Center for Photonics and Multiscale Nanomaterials, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, USA. merlin@umich.edu.

PMID: 30361369
DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5915

Abstract

Synchrotron radiation-namely, electromagnetic radiation produced by charges moving in a curved path-is regularly generated at large-scale facilities where giga-electron volt electrons move along kilometer-long circular paths. We use a metasurface to bend light and demonstrate synchrotron radiation produced by a subpicosecond pulse, which moves along a circular arc of radius 100 micrometers inside a nonlinear crystal. The emitted radiation, in the terahertz frequency range, results from the nonlinear polarization induced by the pulse. The generation of synchrotron radiation from a pulse revolving about a circular trajectory holds promise for the development of on-chip terahertz sources.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't