An Examination of Resonance, Acceleration, and Particle Dynamics in the Micro‐Accelerator Platform

An effort to build a micron‐scale dielectric‐based slab‐symmetric accelerator is underway at UCLA. The structure achieves acceleration via a resonant accelerating mode that is excited in an approximately 800 nm wide vacuum gap by a side coupled 800 nm laser. Detailed simulation results on structure fields and particle dynamics, using HFSS and VORPAL, are presented. We examine the quality factors of the accelerating modes for various structures and the excitations of non‐accelerating destructive modes. Additionally, the results of an analytic and computational study of focusing, longitudinal dynamics and acceleration are described. Methods for achieving simultaneous transverse and longitudinal focusing are discussed, including modification of structure dimensions and slow variation of the coupling periodicity.