All-optical time-resolved measurement of laser energy modulation in a relativistic electron beam

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate an all-optical method to measure laser energy modulation in a relativistic electron beam. In this scheme the time-dependent energy modulation generated from the electron-laser interaction in an undulator is converted into time-dependent density modulation with a chicane, which is measured to infer the laser energy modulation. The method, in principle, is capable of simultaneously providing information on femtosecond time scale and 10-5 energy scale not accessible with conventional methods. We anticipate that this method may have wide applications in many laser-based advanced beam manipulation techniques. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.