Efficient Narrow-Band Terahertz Radiation from Electrostatic Wakefields in Nonuniform Plasmas

Abstract

It is shown that electrostatic plasma wakefields can efficiently radiate at harmonics of the plasma frequency when the plasma has a positive density gradient along the propagation direction of a driver. The driver propagating at a subluminal group velocity excites the plasma wakefield with the same phase velocity. However, due to the positive density gradient, the wake phase velocity steadily increases behind the driver. As soon as the phase velocity becomes superluminal, the electrostatic wakefield couples efficiently to radiative electromagnetic modes. The period of time when the phase velocity stays above the speed of light depends on the density gradient scale length. The wake radiates at well-defined harmonics of the plasma frequency in the terahertz band. The angle of emission depends on the gradient scale and the time passed behind the driver. For appropriate plasma and driver parameters, the wake can radiate away nearly all its energy, which potentially results in an efficient, narrow-band, and tunable source of terahertz radiation.