A mechanism to generate continuous kilowatt coherent THz radiation based on self-sustained laser modulation in a steady-state microbunching storage ring

Owing to its unique position in the electromagnetic spectrum, terahertz (THz) radiation holds tremendous scientific value and potential applications in fundamental science, biomedical research, and spectroscopy. In this paper, we propose a novel mechanism to generate continuous kilowatt coherent THz radiation based on self-sustained laser modulation in a steady-state microbunching storage ring. Our analysis and calculations support the potential feasibility of this novel mechanism. Our demonstrated example shows that at 600 MeV electron beam energy, within the cavity reflectivity range R ≈0.9995∼0.9996, approximately 1 kW of continuous coherent radiation at 5 THz can be generated. Since this scheme is based on free electrons, similar radiation output characteristics can be tuned across a wide range of 1–10 THz, making it an exceptionally valuable tool for scientific exploration.