3-D Particle-In-Cell Simulation of Microwave Frequency Comb Generation in Cyclotron Resonance Interaction of an Electromagnetic Wave with a Counterpropagating Rectilinear Electron Beam

Abstract

In this paper, we study the transformation of a continuous-wave (CW) signal into a train of short microwave soliton-like pulses under the cyclotron resonance interaction of an electromagnetic (EM) wave with a counterpropagating, initially rectilinear electron beam. This phenomenon was first predicted in [https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.143901], where it was interpreted as the formation of self-induced transparency solitons. In our previous studies [https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.106.014214], using the nonlinear wave theory, we showed that the generation of solitons is due to the evolution of modulation instability (MI). Such an effect is useful for generation of microwave frequency combs, which is relevant for a number of practical applications, for example, in spectroscopy [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24471-4].

Theoretical study, which includes the analysis of the nonlinear dispersion relation, the derivation of explicit stationary solutions, and the investigation of MI and its character, has enabled us to determine the conditions under which soliton-like pulses are generated in the system under consideration. The theoretical predictions are verified by 3-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of the electron-wave interaction. 3-D PIC simulations have shown that it is possible to convert the 241-GHz CW signal into a periodic train of pulses with a duration of about 3-4 ns and a spectrum in the form of a frequency comb.

This work is supported by Russian Science Foundation under grant # 23-12-00291.

Speaker

Alena A. Rostuntsova
Saratov Branch, Kotelnikov Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics RAS, Saratov, Russia
Russia

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