Ultrafast electron diffraction powered with a Terahertz-driven pulse compressor

Ultrafast electron sources have emerged as a powerful tool for revealing structural dynamics in molecules and materials at the atomic scale [1] . Over the past years, there has been great interest in achieving sub-100 femtosecond (fs) time resolution with sufficient brightness, and high repetition rate to enable a direct observation of primary events governing physical/chemical processes [1] . Recently, it has been shown that laser-based Terahertz (THz) radiation powered electron acceleration and manipulation provides a promising solution to construct future ultrafast electron sources that support high energy, high repetition rate, short electron bunches while being compact [2] – [3] .