The rise time of intense radiation determines the maximum field strength atoms can be exposed to before their polarizability dramatically drops due to the detachment of an outer electron. Recent progress in ultrafast optics has allowed the generation of ultraintense light pulses comprising merely a few field oscillation cycles. The arising intensity gradient allows electrons to survive in their bound atomic state up to external field strengths many times higher than the binding Coulomb field and gives rise to ionization rates comparable to the light frequency, resulting in a significant extension of the frontiers of nonlinear optics and (nonrelativistic) high-field physics. Implications include the generation of coherent harmonic radiation up to kiloelectronvolt photon energies and control of the atomic dipole moment on a subfemtosecond $(1{\mathrm{f}\mathrm{s}=10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}\mathrm{}\mathrm{s})$ time scale. This review presents the landmarks of the 30-odd-year evolution of ultrashort-pulse laser physics and technology culminating in the generation of intense few-cycle light pulses and discusses the impact of these pulses on high-field physics. Particular emphasis is placed on high-order harmonic emission and single subfemtosecond extreme ultraviolet/x-ray pulse generation. These as well as other strong-field processes are governed directly by the electric-field evolution, and hence their full control requires access to the (absolute) phase of the light carrier. We shall discuss routes to its determination and control, which will, for the first time, allow access to the electromagnetic fields in light waves and control of high-field interactions with never-before-achieved precision.

Intense few-cycle laser fields: Frontiers of nonlinear optics

Summary form only given. Fundamental processes in atoms, molecules, as well as condensed matter are triggered or mediated by the motion of electrons inside or between atoms. Electronic dynamics on atomic length scales tends to unfold within tens to thousands of attoseconds (1 attosecond [as] = 10-18 s). Recent breakthroughs in laser science are now opening the door to watching and controlling these hitherto inaccessible microscopic dynamics. The key to accessing the attosecond time domain is the control of the electric field of (visible) light, which varies its strength and direction within less than a femtosecond (1 femtosecond = 1000 attoseconds). Atoms exposed to a few oscillations cycles of intense laser light are able to emit a single extreme ultraviolet (XUV) burst lasting less than one femtosecond. Full control of the evolution of the electromagnetic field in laser pulses comprising a few wave cycles have recently allowed the reproducible generation and measurement of isolated sub-femtosecond XUV pulses, demonstrating the control of microscopic processes (electron motion and photon emission) on an attosecond time scale. These tools have enabled us to visualize the oscillating electric field of visible light with an attosecond "oscilloscope", to control single-electron and probe multi-electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids. Recent experiments hold promise for the development of an attosecond X-ray source, which may pave the way towards 4D electron imaging with sub-atomic resolution in space and time.

Attosecond Physics

The advent of ultraintense laser pulses generated by the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) along with the development of high-fluence laser materials has opened up an entirely new field of optics. The electromagnetic field intensities produced by these techniques, in excess of ${10}^{18}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{W}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, lead to relativistic electron motion in the laser field. The CPA method is reviewed and the future growth of laser technique is discussed, including the prospect of generating the ultimate power of a zettawatt. A number of consequences of relativistic-strength optical fields are surveyed. In contrast to the nonrelativistic regime, these laser fields are capable of moving matter more effectively, including motion in the direction of laser propagation. One of the consequences of this is wakefield generation, a relativistic version of optical rectification, in which longitudinal field effects could be as large as the transverse ones. In addition to this, other effects may occur, including relativistic focusing, relativistic transparency, nonlinear modulation and multiple harmonic generation, and strong coupling to matter and other fields (such as high-frequency radiation). A proper utilization of these phenomena and effects leads to the new technology of relativistic engineering, in which light-matter interactions in the relativistic regime drives the development of laser-driven accelerator science. A number of significant applications are reviewed, including the fast ignition of an inertially confined fusion target by short-pulsed laser energy and potential sources of energetic particles (electrons, protons, other ions, positrons, pions, etc.). The coupling of an intense laser field to matter also has implications for the study of the highest energies in astrophysics, such as ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, with energies in excess of ${10}^{20}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$. The laser fields can be so intense as to make the accelerating field large enough for general relativistic effects (via the equivalence principle) to be examined in the laboratory. It will also enable one to access the nonlinear regime of quantum electrodynamics, where the effects of radiative damping are no longer negligible. Furthermore, when the fields are close to the Schwinger value, the vacuum can behave like a nonlinear medium in much the same way as ordinary dielectric matter expanded to laser radiation in the early days of laser research.

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Optics in the relativistic regime

http://absimage.aps.org/image/DAMOP12/MWS_DAMOP12-2012-000066.pdf

Optics in the Relativistic Regime

Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography uses broadband light sources to achieve axial image resolutions on the few micron scale. Fourier domain detection methods enable more than an order of magnitude increase in imaging speed and sensitivity, thus overcoming the sensitivity limitations inherent in ultrahigh-resolution OCT using standard time domain detection. Fourier domain methods also provide direct access to the spectrum of the optical signal. This enables automatic numerical dispersion compensation, a key factor in achieving ultrahigh image resolutions. We present ultrahigh-resolution, high-speed Fourier domain OCT imaging with an axial resolution of 2.1 µm in tissue and 16,000 axial scans per second at 1024 pixels per axial scan. Ultrahigh-resolution spectral domain OCT is shown to provide a ~100x increase in imaging speed when compared to ultrahigh-resolution time domain OCT. In vivo imaging of the human retina is demonstrated. We also present a general technique for automatic numerical dispersion compensation, which is applicable to spectral domain as well as swept source embodiments of Fourier domain OCT.

Ultrahigh-resolution, high-speed, Fourier domain optical coherence tomography and methods for dispersion compensation.

We report the observation of a gain of approximately $\mathrm{exp}\left(11\right)$ at 41.8 nm in 8-times-ionized xenon. This extreme ultraviolet (XUV) laser is driven by a 10-Hz, 70-mJ circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulse. The laser is focused into Xe at pressures ranging from 5 to 12 torr. The laser is collisionally excited, with both the ions and electrons produced by field induced tunneling.

Demonstration of a 10-hz femtosecond-pulse-driven xuv laser at 41.8 nm in xe ix

Design of an expansion and recompression system for amplification of sub-20-fs optical pulses to multiterawatt peak powers is presented. The system allows one to eliminate spatial inhomogeneities and cubic and quartic phase errors that make existing designs unsuitable for use with pulses much shorter than 100 fs. We experimentally demonstrate >10,000 times expansion and recompression of ∼25-fs optical pulses.

Quintic-phase-limited, spatially uniform expansion and recompression of ultrashort optical pulses.

A near-diffraction-limited transform-limited multiterawatt laser system that produces approximately 30-fs 125-mJ 800-nm pulses at a repetition rate of 10 Hz has been constructed. Methods for the control of femtosecond time-scale phase and amplitude distortions have been developed and implemented.

Multiterawatt 30-fs Ti:sapphire laser system.

We propose three XUV laser schemes in the 30-50-nm wavelength region that can be driven by 10-Hz ultrashort-pulse terawatt laser systems. Tunneling ionization by circularly polarized radiation produces both the ions and hot electrons necessary to excite the upper laser level.

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Femtosecond-pulse-driven, electron-excited XUV lasers in eight-times-ionized noble gases

We show that intracavity group-velocity dispersion compensation with the use of prisms composed of conventional optical materials can be accomplished while simultaneously eliminating the round-trip cavity cubic phase. The ability to compensate perfectly both second- and third-order dispersion exists for pulses whose central wavelengths lie within a range that depends on the prism and laser rod materials as well as on the prism angles. In the case of Ti:sapphire and Cr:LiSrAlF6 lasers, Brewster prisms composed of readily available materials can be used to compensate for both group-velocity dispersion and cubic phase over much of the respective tuning ranges.

B. E. Lemoff

Papers

Demonstration of a 10-hz femtosecond-pulse-driven xuv laser at 41.8 nm in xe ix

Quintic-phase-limited, spatially uniform expansion and recompression of ultrashort optical pulses.

Multiterawatt 30-fs Ti:sapphire laser system.

Femtosecond-pulse-driven, electron-excited XUV lasers in eight-times-ionized noble gases

Cubic-phase-free dispersion compensation in solid-state ultrashort-pulse lasers