A rotationally symmetric electron beam chopper for picosecond pulses

Abstract

The chopper was designed for dynamic electron optical experiments where it is necessary to provide pulses of high quality with respect to both width and energy spread. The chopping action relies on the optical properties of a microwave cavity; these are exploited such that the time dependent space focusing causes a small circular aperture on the axis of rotational symmetry to transmit strongly for a single band of phase angles in each cycle of the excitation. The theoretical treatment is oriented towards computer display, and is novel in that it follows the progress of individual electron packets throughout the system. In contrast to conventional chopping and bunching theory, it is possible to analyse with ease the pulsing properties of a multicavity device.