Boosting the Efficiency of Smith–Purcell Radiators Using Nanophotonic Inverse DesignClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!
- Urs Haeusler*Urs Haeusler*E-mail: [email protected]Department Physik, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 1, Erlangen 91058, GermanyMore by Urs Haeusler
- Michael Seidling*Michael Seidling*E-mail: [email protected]Department Physik, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 1, Erlangen 91058, GermanyMore by Michael Seidling
- Peyman YousefiPeyman YousefiDepartment Physik, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 1, Erlangen 91058, GermanyMore by Peyman Yousefi
- Peter Hommelhoff*Peter Hommelhoff*E-mail: [email protected]Department Physik, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Staudtstraße 1, Erlangen 91058, GermanyMore by Peter Hommelhoff
Abstract

The generation of radiation from free electrons passing a grating, known as Smith–Purcell radiation, finds various applications, including nondestructive beam diagnostics and tunable light sources, ranging from terahertz toward X-rays. So far, the gratings used for this purpose have been designed manually, based on human intuition and simple geometric shapes. Here we apply the computer-based technique of nanophotonic inverse design to build a 1400 nm Smith–Purcell radiator for subrelativistic 30 keV electrons. We demonstrate that the resulting silicon nanostructure radiates with a 3× higher efficiency and 2.2× higher overall power than previously used rectangular gratings. With better fabrication accuracy and for the same electron–structure distance, simulations suggest a superiority by a factor of 96 in peak efficiency. While increasing the efficiency is a key step needed for practical applications of free-electron radiators, inverse design also allows to shape the spectral and spatial emission in ways inaccessible with the human mind.
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