Diffraction radiation (DR) is produced when a charged particle passes through an aperture or near a discontinuity in the media in which it is traveling. DR is closely related to transition radiation (TR), which is produced when a charged particle traverses the boundary between media with different dielectric constants. In contrast to TR, which is now extensively used for beam diagnostic purposes, the potential of DR as a non-interceptive, multi-parameter beam diagnostic remains largely undeveloped. For diagnostic measurements it is useful to observe backward reflected DR from an circular aperture or slit inclined with respect to the beam velocity. However, up to now, well founded equations for the spectral-angular intensities of backward DR from such apertures have not been available. We present a new derivation of the spectral angular intensity of backward DR produced from an inclined slit for two orientations of the slit axis, i.e. perpendicular and parallel to the plane of incidence. Our mathematical approach is generally applicable to any geometry and simpler than the Wiener Hopf method previously used to calculate DR from single edges. Our results for the slit are applied to the measurement of orthogonal beam size and divergence components. We discuss the problem of separating the simultaneous effects of these beam parameters on the angular distribution of DR and provide solutions to this difficulty. These include use of the horizontal and vertical polarization components of the radiation from a single slit and interferences from two inclined slits. Examples of DR diagnostics for a 500 MeV beam are presented and the current limitations of the technique are discussed.

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We report the first unambiguous demonstration of near-field imaging of optical diffraction radiation (ODR). The source of the ODR was an aluminum metal reflective surface with a 7-GeV electron beam passing nearby its single edge. Because of the high Lorentz factor involved, appreciable ODR is emitted at visible wavelengths even for impact parameters of 1 to 2 mm, so standard imaging techniques were employed. The experimental results are compared to a simple near-field model. We show that the ODR signals are sensitive to both beam size and position. Applications to multi-GeV beams in transport lines in the major synchrotron radiation facilities, x-ray free-electron lasers, energy recovering linacs, and the International Linear Collider are possible.

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We report a method for tuning a split-ring resonator (SRR) using infrared light. The SRR unit cells are commonly used in arrays to form a metamaterial that exhibits an effective negative permeability and are often used in negative-refractive-index materials. The region of negative permeability is generally limited to a narrow bandwidth at a fixed frequency. In this work, we use photocapacitance as observed in undoped semi-insulating GaAs to modify the gap capacitance of a SRR. We demonstrate a continuously tunable frequency over the range of 0.1–1.5 GHz using a 975 nm laser diode with a power range of 0–189 mW.