New concept of waveguide for inverse free electron laser accelerator

A segmented waveguide formed by a periodic system of pairs of wedge prisms with a gap between them is proposed. The prisms are made of single-crystal sapphire for which the refraction index ν<1 for CO2 laser radiation (λ=10.6 μm). The attenuation of 0.1 db/m can be estimated for a 5 mm diameter radiation beam for which the Rayleigh distance is approximately 1 m. The gap between adjacent prisms can be useful in FEL-like applications.