Double-mode electrostatic dispersing prism for electron pulse time-domain compression

The generalized theory of double-mode electrostatic dispersing prism for time-domain compressing electron pulse is presented. The fundamental difference between the two modes of o mode and e mode lies in the dispersive dependence of electron's time of flight on its initial kinetic energy at prism entrance: the electrons with higher initial axial energy definitely have longer time of flight for o mode, while not the case for e mode, which results from the electron pulse's U-shaped motion in the prism. The dispersive dependence of time of flight constitutes the mechanism of electron pulse compression for each mode. An example is given to demonstrate the issue of parameter choosing for the prism and to verify its tunable performance of compression.