Electron beam excitation of surface plasmon polaritons and transformation into electromagnetic radiation

Shenggang Liu ^{1*, 2}, Min Hu ^{1, 2}, Renbin Zhong ^{1, 2}, Xiaoxing Chen ^{1, 2}, Ping Zhang ^{1, 2}, Sen Gong ^{1, 2}, Tao Zhao ^{1, 2
1} Terahertz Science and Technology Center, School of Physical Electronics,University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610054
² Cooperative Innovation Center of Terahertz Science, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610054,
^*1 Email: liusg@uestc.edu.cn

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Abstract: The results of many years' research show that only by means of electronics (both vacuum and semiconductor electronics) or only by means of photonics, the whole Terahertz gap could not be covered. Therefore, to look for a way to remove the difficulties is certainly a big challenge. Recently, a novel physical phenomenon has been found: in a structure of nano-scale metal film with dielectric medium loading, the Surface Plasmon Polaritons excited by electron beam can be transformed into enhanced electromagnetic radiation. Based on this physical phenomenon, a concept of combining the electronics and photonics to generate electromagnetic radiation comes up. In this paper, we show that this concept leads to a novel approach, which can not only cover the whole THz gap, but also generate enhanced coherent radiation from THz to ultraviolet.

Keywords: Electron beam, Surface plasmon polaritons, Terahertz source, Graphene.

Received: 2015-6-16

Published: 2015-6-30

Cite this article:
Shenggang Liu, Min Hu, Renbin Zhong, Xiaoxing Chen, Ping Zhang, Sen Gong, Tao Zhao. Electron beam excitation of surface plasmon polaritons and transformation into electromagnetic radiation[J]. International Journal of Terahertz Science and Technology, 2015, Vol.8, No.2: 69-84.  DOI:10.11906/TST.069-084.2015.06.08

URL: http://www.tstnetwork.org/10.11906/TST.069-084.2015.06.08