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US 12,750,944 B2Granted
Nanostructure nanoplasmonic accelerator, high-energy photon source, and related methods
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate
InventorAakash A Sahai
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Abstract
A system is provided for accelerating charged particles and producing high energy photons. The system includes a nanostructure comprising at least one tube having a hollow core channel surrounded by a wall of a nanomaterial, e.g., comprising wall electrons and ions. The nanostructure is configured to interact with a beam of charged particle having a quasi-solid beam density, e.g., greater than 1018 cm−3. The beam of charged particles gains energy or momentum at an average acceleration gradient, e.g., greater than 1 TeraVolt (TeV) per meter along a longitudinal direction, and undergoes focusing in a transverse direction to increase the density of the beam of the charged particles, e.g. by at least an order of magnitude.
Claims30
A system for accelerating charged particles and producing high energy photons, the system comprising:
- a nanofabricated nanostructure comprising a conductive medium formed of at least one tube having a hollow core channel surrounded by a wall comprised of a nanomaterial having wall electrons comprising a free electron gas of conduction band electrons and wall ions;
- and
- a first beam of charged particles having a quasi-solid beam density greater than 1018 cm−3;
- wherein the nanostructure is configured with an internal radius of said wall and an effective wall electron density of said wall electrons selected to interact with the first beam of charged particles, wherein the effective wall electron density is greater than or equal to the quasi-solid beam density;
- wherein the quasi-solid beam density of the first beam of charged particles is selected between 0.01 and 100 times the effective wall electron density with a beam waist radius selected between 0.1 and 100 times the internal radius of said wall;
- wherein, via said nanostructure interacting with the first beam of charged particles, a plasmonic mode is excited in the nanostructure and the first beam of charged particles gains energy and/or momentum at a rate greater than 1 TeV per meter along a longitudinal direction of the at least one tube, and
- wherein, via said plasmonic mode being excited, the first beam of charged particles undergoes focusing in a transverse direction with respect to the at least one tube to form a second beam of charged particles, the second beam of charged particles having a quasi-solid beam density at least an order of magnitude greater than that of the first beam of charged particles;
- and
- wherein the nanostructure is configured to generate high energy photons via modulation of the second beam of charged particles.
6 more elements
A method comprising:
- providing a nanofabricated nanostructure comprising a conductive medium formed of at least one tube comprised of a nanomaterial and having a wall defining a hollow core channel extending along a longitudinal axis therein, the nanostructure comprising the least one tube having said hollow core channel surrounded by the wall, the wall comprised of said nanomaterial having wall electrons comprising a free electron gas of conduction band electrons and wall ions;
- generating an electromagnetic field by the nanostructure interacting with a first beam of charged particles propagating along the longitudinal axis, wherein the nanostructure is configured with an internal radius of said wall and an effective wall electron density of said wall electrons selected to interact with said first beam of charged particles having a solid or quasi-solid beam density greater than 1018 cm−3, wherein the effective wall electron density is greater than or equal to the solid or quasi-solid beam density;
- wherein the solid or quasi-solid beam density of the first beam of charged particles is selected between 0.01 and 100 times the effective wall electron density with a beam waist radius selected between 0.1 and 100 times the internal radius of said wall;
- wherein, via said nanostructure interacting with the first beam of charged particles, a plasmonic mode is excited along the wall and the electromagnetic field has an amplitude of at least 1 TV m−1, wherein the first beam of charged particles gains or loses energy and/or momentum at a rate greater than 1 TeV per meter along a longitudinal direction of the at least one tube;
- focusing the first beam of charged particles via said plasmonic mode being excited, wherein the first beam of charged particles undergoes focusing in a transverse direction with respect to the at least one tube to form a second beam of charged particles;
- wherein an energy density of the charged particles is increased along the longitudinal axis and the second beam of charged particles has a solid or quasi-solid beam density of at least an order of magnitude greater than that of the first beam of charged particles;
- and
- modulating the focused beam of charged particles via the electromagnetic field, wherein high energy photons having energy of at least 1 MeV are generated by oscillation of the focused beam in a transverse direction, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.
5 more elements
A system comprising:
- a nanofabricated nanostructure having at least one tube with a wall comprised of a nanomaterial defining a hollow core channel, the nanostructure comprising the least one tube having said hollow core channel surrounded by the wall, the wall comprised of said nanomaterial having wall electrons comprising a free electron gas of conduction band electrons and wall ions;
- and
- a first beam of charged particles having a solid or quasi-solid beam density greater than at least 1018 cm−3;
- wherein the nanostructure is configured with an internal radius of said wall and an effective wall electron density of said wall electrons selected to generate an electromagnetic field via interaction with the first beam of charged particles propagating in a longitudinal direction of the at least one tube, wherein the effective wall electron density is greater than or equal to the solid or quasi-solid beam density of the first beam of charged particles;
- wherein the nanostructure is configured to interact with the first beam of charged particles having a solid or quasi-solid beam density of greater than at least 1018 cm−3 and the solid or quasi-solid beam density of the first beam of charged particles is selected between 0.01 and 100 times the effective wall electron density with a beam waist radius selected between 0.1 and 100 times the internal radius of said wall;
- wherein, via said interaction of the nanostructure with the first beam, a plasmonic mode is excited in the nanostructure along the wall via the interaction, wherein the electromagnetic field has an amplitude of at least 1 TV m−1;
- wherein, via said plasmonic mode being excited, energy and/or momentum of the first beam of charged particles increases at a rate of at least 1 TeV m−1 along the longitudinal direction, wherein the first beam of charged particles gains or loses said energy and/or momentum at a rate greater than 1 TeV per meter along the longitudinal direction;
- wherein the first beam of charged particles undergoes focusing in a transverse direction with respect to the at least one tube, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, to form a second beam of charged particles;
- wherein the solid or quasi-solid beam density of the first beam of charged particles increases by at least an order of magnitude, the second beam of charged particles having a solid or quasi-solid beam density at least an order of magnitude greater than that of the first beam of charged particles;
- and
- wherein high energy photons with energy of at least 1 Me V are generated by modulating the focused beam of charged particles, responsive to the electromagnetic field.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.