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Light amplification and electron acceleration by a noncollinear Compton process

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Abstract

We discuss the exchange of energy between a free electron and two electromagnetic waves. When the conditions are arranged so that one wave is amplified we obtain a Compton laser; when the electron gains energy we have an accelerator utilizing the inverse Compton effect. In Section 2 we carry out a quantum-mechanical perturbation calculation of these processes. The ensuing result is independent of Planck’s constant and may thus be found by a classical calculation. We carry out such a computation in Section 3 following earlier work on free-electron lasers and obtain full agreement with the quantum result. The classical calculation can, however, also be used to follow the processes into the saturation region. In Section 4 we discuss the utilization of the configuration as an electron accelerator. We present preliminary estimates of the efficiency of the process. For the limited period over which the present results are valid we find an appreciable transfer of energy to the electrons over rather short distances. This suggests that additional investigations of this accelerating system may be worthwhile.

© 1987 Optical Society of America

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