arXiv subjects

Nicholas H. Matlis

Publications and source records attributed to Nicholas H. Matlis.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Phlystron -- A photonic terahertz amplifier

High-energy (mJ) and high-peak-power (MW) multicycle terahertz (THz) pulses are essential for nonlinear THz spectroscopy and compact accelerator technologies, yet their generation by nonlinear optical frequency conversion remains inefficient and imposes severe demands on femtosecond driving lasers. Amplifying existing THz pulses offers an appealing alternative, but no power-scalable amplifier has been realized in the sub-THz regime. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical THz amplifier operating at 0.35 THz based on the modulation of nanosecond laser pulses by a weak THz field in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN). The THz-induced phase modulation is converted into an amplitude modulation using controlled group delay dispersion, forming a tailored pulse train that can efficiently drive high-energy THz generation in a second crystal, thereby amplifying the THz seed. By analogy to electronic klystrons, we term this device the Phlystron, in which the electron beam carrying the power is replaced by a photon beam. In this proof-of-concept experiment, a 3.3-fold increase in THz energy is achieved with commercial crystals. Scaling analysis indicates the potential for higher gain when using large-aperture PPLN devices and multi-stage amplification. The Phlystron thus provides a scalable route to powerful multicycle THz sources driven by readily available narrowband lasers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Terahertz-driven Two-Dimensional Mapping for Electron Temporal Profile Measurement

The precision measurement of real-time electron temporal profiles is crucial for advancing electron and X-ray devices used in ultrafast imaging and spectroscopy. While high temporal resolution and large temporal window can be achieved separately using different technologies, real-time measurement enabling simultaneous high resolution and large window remains challenging. Here, we present the first THz-driven sampling electron oscilloscope capable of measuring electron pulses with high temporal resolution and a scalable, large temporal window simultaneously. The transient THz electric field induces temporal electron streaking in the vertical axis, while extended interaction along the horizontal axis leads to a propagation-induced time delay, enabling electron beam sampling with sub-cycle THz wave. This allows real-time femtosecond electron measurement with a tens-of-picosecond window, surpassing previous THz-based techniques by an order of magnitude. The measurement capability is further enhanced through projection imaging, deflection cavity tilting, and shorted antenna utilization, resulting in signal spatial magnification, extended temporal window, and increased field strength. The technique holds promise for a wide range of applications and opens new opportunities in ultrafast science and accelerator technologies.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Geolocation differences of language use in urban areas

The explosion in the availability of natural language data in the era of social media has given rise to a host of applications such as sentiment analysis and opinion mining. Simultaneously, the growing availability of precise geolocation information is enabling visualization of global phenomena such as environmental changes and disease propagation. Opportunities for tracking spatial variations in language use, however, have largely been overlooked, especially on small spatial scales. Here we explore the use of Twitter data with precise geolocation information to resolve spatial variations in language use on an urban scale down to single city blocks. We identify several categories of language tokens likely to show distinctive patterns of use and develop quantitative methods to visualize the spatial distributions associated with these patterns. Our analysis concentrates on comparison of contrasting pairs of Tweet distributions from the same category, each defined by a set of tokens. Our work shows that analysis of small-scale variations can provide unique information on correlations between language use and social context which are highly valuable to a wide range of fields from linguistic science and commercial advertising to social services.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2021

Ultrafast electron diffractometer with Terahertz-driven pulse compression

Terahertz (THz)-based electron manipulation has recently been shown to hold tremendous promise as a technology for manipulating and driving the next-generation of compact ultrafast electron sources. Here, we demonstrate an ultrafast electron diffractometer with THz-driven pulse compression. The electron bunches from a conventional DC gun are compressed by a factor of 10 and reach a duration of ~180 fs (FWHM) with 10,000 electrons/pulse at a 1 kHz repetition rate. The resulting ultrafast electron source is used in a proof-of-principle experiment to probe the photoinduced dynamics of single-crystal silicon. The THz-compressed electron beams produce high-quality diffraction patterns and enable observation of the ultrafast structural dynamics with improved time resolution. These results validate the maturity of THz-driven ultrafast electron sources for use in precision applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Full 3D+1 modelling of the tilted-pulse-front setups for single-cycle terahertz generation

The tilted-pulse-front setup utilizing a diffraction grating is one of the most successful methods to generate single- to few-cycle terahertz pulses. However, the generated terahertz pulses have a large spatial inhomogeneity, due to the noncollinear phase matching condition and the asymmetry of the prism-shaped nonlinear crystal geometry, especially when pushing for high optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiency. A 3D+1 (x,y,z,t) numerical model is necessary in order to fully investigate the terahertz generation problem in the tilted-pulse-front scheme. We compare in detail the differences between 1D+1, 2D+1 and 3D+1 models. The simulations show that the size of the optical beam in the pulse-front-tilt plane sensitively affects the spatio-temporal properties of the terahertz electric field. The terahertz electric field is found to have a strong spatial dependence such that a few-cycle pulse is only generated near the apex of the prism. The part of the beam farther from the apex contains a large fraction of the energy but has a waveform that deviates from a few-cycle. This strong spatial dependence must be accounted for when using the terahertz pulses for strong-field physics and carrier-envelope-phase sensitive experiments such as terahertz acceleration, coherent control of antiferromagnetic spin waves and terahertz high-harmonic generation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Cascaded Multi-cycle terahertz driven ultrafast electron acceleration and manipulation

Terahertz (THz)-based electron acceleration and manipulation has recently been shown to be feasible and to hold tremendous promise as a technology for the development of next-generation, compact electron sources. Previous work has concentrated on structures powered transversely by short, single-cycle THz pulses, with mm-scale, segmented interaction regions that are ideal for acceleration of electrons in the sub- to few-MeV range where electron velocities vary significantly. However, in order to extend this technology to the multi-MeV range, investigation of approaches supporting longer interaction lengths is needed. Here, we demonstrate first steps in electron acceleration and manipulation using dielectrically-lined waveguides powered by temporally long, narrowband, multi-cycle THz pulses that co-propagate with the electrons. This geometry offers centimeter-scale single-stage interaction lengths and offers the opportunity to further increase interaction lengths by cascading acceleration stages that recycle the THz energy and rephase the interaction. We prove the feasibility of THz-energy recycling for the first time by demonstrating acceleration, compression and focusing in two sequential Al2O3-based dielectric capillary stages powered by the same multi-cycle THz pulse. Since the multi-cycle energy achievable using laser-based sources is currently a limiting factor for the maximum electron acceleration, THz energy recycling provides a key enabling factor for reaching relativistic energies with existing sources.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2019

Spectral Phase Control of Interfering Chirped Pulses for High-Energy Narrowband Terahertz Generation

Highly-efficient optical generation of narrowband terahertz (THz) radiation enables unexplored technologies and sciences from compact electron acceleration to charge manipulation in solids. State-of-the-art conversion efficiencies are currently achieved using difference-frequency generation (DFG) driven by temporal beating of chirped pulses but remain, however, far lower than desired or predicted. Here we show that high-order spectral phase fundamentally limits the efficiency of narrowband DFG using chirped-pulse beating and resolve this limitation by introducing a novel technique based on tuning the relative spectral phase of the pulses. For optical terahertz generation, we demonstrate a 13-fold enhancement in conversion efficiency for 1%-bandwidth, 0.361 THz pulses, yielding a record energy of 0.6 mJ and exceeding previous optically-generated energies by over an order of magnitude. Our results prove the feasibility of millijoule-scale applications like terahertz-based electron accelerators and light sources and solve the long-standing problem of temporal irregularities in the pulse trains generated by interfering chirped pulses.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2017

Segmented Terahertz Electron Accelerator and Manipulator (STEAM)

Acceleration and manipulation of ultrashort electron bunches are the basis behind electron and X-ray devices used for ultrafast, atomic-scale imaging and spectroscopy. Using laser-generated THz drivers enables intrinsic synchronization as well as dramatic gains in field strengths, field gradients and component compactness, leading to shorter electron bunches, higher spatio-temporal resolution and smaller infrastructures. We present a segmented THz electron accelerator and manipulator (STEAM) with extended interaction lengths capable of performing multiple high-field operations on the energy and phase-space of ultrashort bunches with moderate charge. With this single device, powered by few-microjoule, single-cycle, 0.3 THz pulses, we demonstrate record THz-device acceleration of >30 keV, streaking with <10 fs resolution, focusing with >2 kT/m strengths, compression to ~100 fs as well as real-time switching between these modes of operation. The STEAM device demonstrates the feasibility of future THz-based compact electron guns, accelerators, ultrafast electron diffractometers and Free-Electron Lasers with transformative impact.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2017

Excitation and Control of Plasma Wakefields by Multiple Laser Pulses

We demonstrate experimentally the resonant excitation of plasma waves by trains of laser pulses. We also take an important first step to achieving an energy recovery plasma accelerator by showing that unused wakefield energy can be removed by an out-of-resonance trailing laser pulse. The measured laser wakefields are found to be in excellent agreement with analytical and numerical models of wakefield excitation in the linear regime. Our results indicate a promising direction for achieving highly controlled, GeV-scale laser-plasma accelerators operating at multi-kilohertz repetition rates. This article was published in Physical Review Letters 119, 044802 on 27 July 2017. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.044802 Copyright 2017 American Physical Society.

physics.plasm-ph↗