Peculiarities of the coherent spontaneous synchrotron radiation of dense electron bunches

In a short section of homogeneous magnetic field, quasi-plane electron bunches from linear accelerators with laser-driven photo-injectors at moderate particle energies can generate strongly directed, very short and powerful terahertz electromagnetic pulses with a broad frequency spectrum. The formulas for radiation fields, their spectra and efficiency of radiation are presented in a very simple analytical form using expressions for the fields of an arbitrary moving charged plane. The self-action and mutual interaction of thin electron layers are estimated. It is shown that the radiation with frequencies of up to (1-3) THz can be effectively generated by electrons with energies (4-6) MeV in a short and relatively weak magnetic field of (4-10) kOe.