Single-shot ultrafast electron diffraction using electrons accelerated by an intense femtosecond laser pulse

In this paper, the authors have demonstrated femtosecond pulse compression of a laser-accelerated electron beam with energy of around 350 keV. The electron pulses are generated by irradiating a tightly focused terawatt femtosecond laser pulse on a solid target; then, the pulses are compressed by using an achromatic bending magnet system. These femtosecond electron pulses have a sufficient intensity to take a single-shot diffraction pattern.