Conceptual design of an isochronous ring to generate coherent terahertz synchrotron radiation

A novel coherent light source project in the terahertz wavelength region has been developed at Tohoku University. The project may involve development of high brightness electron guns employing cathode of single crystal LaB ₆ for production of a very short bunch length less than 100 fs. The light source has been designed based on isochronous ring optics to preserve the short bunch length. Although the ring is not a storage ring, the lattice of isochronous optics has resulted from consideration of path length differences due to the betatron motion. The coherent terahertz photons are emitted from circulating electron bunches injected from the linac. Even though the beam is bent by dipole magnets, the bunch shape does not collapse because of the nearly complete isochronous optics of the ring. Since production of the coherent terahertz radiation requires a bunch length less than 100 fs (stdv, if Gaussian), the maximum path length difference created by passing through the dipoles is controlled to not exceed a couple of tens of femtoseconds. The predicted spectrum of the coherent terahertz radiation and its characteristics are also presented.