Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
Observation of terahertz emission from a laser-plasma accelerated electron bunch crossing a plasma-vacuum boundary
W P Leemans1, C G R Geddes, J Faure
1Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
Coherent radiation in the 0.3-3 THz range has been generated from femtosecond electron bunches at a plasma-vacuum boundary via transition radiation. The bunches produced by a laser-plasma accelerator contained 1.5 nC of charge. The THz energy per pulse within a limited 30 mrad collection angle was 3-5 nJ and scaled quadratically with bunch charge, consistent with coherent emission. Modeling indicates that this broadband source produces about 0.3 microJ per pulse within a 100 mrad angle, and that increasing the transverse plasma size and electron beam energy could provide more than 100 microJ/pulse.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Overview
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Instrumentation
There are three main types of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) instruments: sequential, simultaneous multichannel, and Fourier transform instruments, with the latter being less commonly used.
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Lab

