Abstract

Relativistic electron impact ionization of a solid material is of great interest in various applications, e.g., interactions between a high-intensity laser and a solid, ultrafast electron microscopy, and space radiation effects in semiconductors. Here, fast electrons and electrons confined inside a solid interact and lead to subsequent avalanche ionization, which affects the electron beam transport and causes the deterioration of the material. In this research, we injected relativistic electron bunches into a zinc telluride (ZnTe) crystal and measured the impact-ionization-induced electric field inside the crystal with sub-picosecond temporal resolution by employing electro-optic (EO) sampling technique.

© 2022 Japan Society of Applied Physics, Optica Publishing Group