Powerful T-Lux Spotted in Virginia

Terahertz radiation, far-infrared light with frequencies around 10¹² Hz, is difficult to make in useful amounts with electronic devices. It is, however, potentially valuable for a number of important applications, such as performing spectroscopy on proteins and buried structures in semiconductors.

A new experiment conducted at the Jefferson Lab free electron laser (FEL) has now produced a broadband batch of coherent THz light with an average beam power of 20 watts, some 100,000 times better than previous sources.

The T-light is produced in 500-femtosecond spurts when comparably timed bunches of electrons pass through a tiny region of magnetic field. (Carr et al., Nature, 14 November 2002.)