Temporal magnification for streaked ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy

Abstract: One of the frontiers of modern electron scattering instrumentation is improving temporal resolution in order to enable the observation of dynamical phenomena at their fundamental time-scales. We analyze how a radiofrequency cavity can be used as an electron longitudinal lens in order to produce a highly magnified temporal replica of an ultrafast process, and, in combination with a deflecting cavity, enable streaked electron images of optical-frequency phenomena. We present start-to-end simulations of an MeV electron beamline for two variations of this idea (a magnifying-glass' and apoint-projection' configuration) showing the feasibility for an electron probe to achieve single shot 1.4 fs(rms) temporal resolution.