On-chip integrated laser-driven particle accelerator.

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Photonics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Conventional radio-frequency accelerators are large and expensive, limiting their widespread application.
• Dielectric laser accelerators (DLAs) offer a miniaturized and cost-effective alternative by using lasers to drive nanostructures.
• Existing DLA implementations use free-space lasers, hindering scalability and integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate a waveguide-integrated dielectric laser accelerator (DLA).
• To design the DLA using a photonic inverse-design approach for enhanced performance.
• To assess the acceleration gradient and energy gain achievable with this integrated system.

Main Methods:

• Designed a waveguide-integrated DLA using a photonic inverse-design methodology.
• Experimentally tested the DLA by measuring electron energy spectra.
• Utilized particle-tracking simulations to analyze and infer acceleration performance.

Main Results:

• Achieved a maximum energy gain of 0.915 kilo-electron volts over a 30-micrometer distance.
• Inferred an acceleration gradient of 30.5 mega-electron volts per meter.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of on-chip acceleration for DLA technology.

Conclusions:

• The waveguide-integrated DLA represents a significant advancement in accelerator miniaturization.
• This technology enables compact and scalable particle acceleration solutions.
• Paves the way for fully integrated mega-electron volt-scale dielectric laser accelerators.