Synchrotron radiation from an accelerating light pulse.

Henstridge, M; Pfeiffer, C; Wang, D; Boltasseva, A; Shalaev, V M; Grbic, A; Merlin, R · Science · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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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.