A plasma klystron for generating ultra-short electron bunches

A technique for producing ultra-short electron bunches (e.g., /spl les/100 fs) from a continuous electron beam using a short plasma wave section and a drift space is explored. The bunches are a fraction of a plasma wavelength long and are spaced by a plasma wavelength, making them of interest for injection into plasma accelerators or for driving a klystron-like structure to produce infrared radiation.