Prospects for the Implementation of an Intense Source of Ultraviolet Radiation Based on a Gas-Discharge Plasma in a Quasi-Optical Cavity Excited by a Pulse of Terahertz Radiation

Abstract

An electrodynamic system is described that provides the creation of an electromagnetic wave field of high intensity at a frequency of 1 THz due to a combination of accumulation in time and compression in space of a wave pulse coming from an electron cyclotron maser (gyrotron). This system is based on the use of a three-mirror cavity consisting of two focusing mirrors and one flat corrugated Bragg-type photonic structure providing coupling between the gyrotron wave pulse and the operating wave of the cavity. The aim of this work is to use a “spot” of the intense terahertz field inside the cavity to provide a point-like plasma discharge in a gas stream injected into this spot; such a discharge can be a source of extreme ultraviolet radiation.