LASER-DRIVEN GRATING LINAC.

Abstract

The fields induced over a grating exposed to plane parallel light are explored. It is shown that acceleration is possible if either the particles travel skew to the grating lines or if the radiation is falling at a skew angle onto the grating. A general theory of diffraction in this skew case is given, including an exact solution for the induced fields in the case of a shallow grating. In one particular case numerical solutions are worked out for some deep gratings. It is found that accelerating fields larger even than the initial fields can be obtained, the limit being set by resistive losses on the grating surface.