Measurement of Subpicosecond Electron Pulse Length*

A new frequency-resolved bunch-length measuring system has been developed at the Stanford SUNSHINE facility to characterize subpicosecond electron pulses. Using a far-infrared Michelson interferometer, this method measures the spectrum of coherent transition radiation emitted from electron bunches through optical autocorrelation. The electron bunch length is obtained from the measurement with a simple and systematic analysis which includes interference effects caused by the beam splitter. This method demonstrates subpicosecond resolving power that cannot be achieved by existing time-resolved methods. The principle of this method and experimental results are discussed.