Gerard Mourou

Bio: Gerard Mourou is an academic researcher from École Polytechnique. The author has contributed to research in topics: Laser & Ultrashort pulse. The author has an hindex of 82, co-authored 653 publications receiving 34147 citations. Previous affiliations of Gerard Mourou include University of Michigan & San Diego State University.

Attosecond control of collective electron motion in plasmas

Abstract: A demonstration of the ability to coherently control the collective attosecond dynamics of relativistic electrons driven through a plasma by an intense laser represents an important step in the development of techniques to manipulate and study extreme states of matter.

Temporal contrast in Ti:sapphire lasers, characterization and control

Abstract: As ultrafast lasers achieve ever higher focused intensities on target, the problem of ensuring a clean laser-solid interaction becomes more pressing. In this paper, we give concrete examples of the deleterious effects of low-contrast interactions, and address the problem of subpicosecond laser intensity contrast ratio on both characterization and control fronts. We present the new technique of high-dynamic-range plasma-shuttered streak camera contrast measurement, as well as two efficient and relatively inexpensive ways of improving the contrast of short pulse lasers without sacrificing on the output energy: a double-pass Pockels cell (PC), and clean high-energy-pulse seeding of the regenerative amplifier.

Chirped-pulse amplification of 55-fs pulses at a 1-kHz repetition rate in a Ti:Al2O3 regenerative amplifier.

Abstract: 40-fs pulses are stretched to 372 ps by an all-reflective-optics stretcher with 1200-line/mm holographic gratings and are then amplified to an energy of 0.7 mJ in a regenerative amplifier. After compression, 0.35-mJ, 55-fs transform-limited pulses are produced.

Time-resolved structures of macromolecules at the ESRF: Single-pulse Laue diffraction, stroboscopic data collection and femtosecond flash photolysis

Abstract: We review the time structure of synchrotron radiation and its use for fast time-resolved diffraction experiments in macromolecular photocycles using flash photolysis to initiate the reaction. The source parameters and optics for ID09 at ESRF are presented together with the phase-locked chopper and femtosecond laser. The chopper can set up a 900 Hz pulse train of 100 ps pulses from the hybrid bunch-mode and, in conjunction with a femtosecond laser, it can be used for stroboscopic data collection with both monochromatic and polychromatic beams. Single-pulse Laue data from cutinase, a 22 kD lipolic enzyme, are presented which show that the quality of single-pulse Laue patterns are sufficient to refine the excited state(s) in a reaction pathway from a known ground state. The flash photolysis technique is discussed and an example is given for heme proteins. The radiation damage from a laser pulse in the femto and picosecond range can be reduced by triggering at a wavelength where the interaction is strong. We propose the use of microcrystals in the range 25–50 μm for efficient photolysis with femto and picosecond pulses. The performance of circular storage rings is compared with the predicted performance of an X-ray free electron laser (XFEL). The combination of micro beams, a gain of 105 photons per pulse and an ultrashort pulse length of 100 fs is likely to improve pulsed diffraction data very substantially. It may be used to image coherent nuclear motion at atomic resolution in ultrafast uni-molecular reactions.

Nobel Lecture: Extreme light physics and application

Abstract: The 2018 Nobel Prize for Physics was shared by Gerard Mourou, Arthur Askin, and Donna Strickland. These papers are the text of the address given in conjunction with the award.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Phd by thesis

Abstract: Deposits of clastic carbonate-dominated (calciclastic) sedimentary slope systems in the rock record have been identified mostly as linearly-consistent carbonate apron deposits, even though most ancient clastic carbonate slope deposits fit the submarine fan systems better. Calciclastic submarine fans are consequently rarely described and are poorly understood. Subsequently, very little is known especially in mud-dominated calciclastic submarine fan systems. Presented in this study are a sedimentological core and petrographic characterisation of samples from eleven boreholes from the Lower Carboniferous of Bowland Basin (Northwest England) that reveals a >250 m thick calciturbidite complex deposited in a calciclastic submarine fan setting. Seven facies are recognised from core and thin section characterisation and are grouped into three carbonate turbidite sequences. They include: 1) Calciturbidites, comprising mostly of highto low-density, wavy-laminated bioclast-rich facies; 2) low-density densite mudstones which are characterised by planar laminated and unlaminated muddominated facies; and 3) Calcidebrites which are muddy or hyper-concentrated debrisflow deposits occurring as poorly-sorted, chaotic, mud-supported floatstones. These

A roadmap for graphene

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed many breakthroughs in research on graphene (the first two-dimensional atomic crystal) as well as a significant advance in the mass production of this material. This one-atom-thick fabric of carbon uniquely combines extreme mechanical strength, exceptionally high electronic and thermal conductivities, impermeability to gases, as well as many other supreme properties, all of which make it highly attractive for numerous applications. Here we review recent progress in graphene research and in the development of production methods, and critically analyse the feasibility of various graphene applications.

Black Hole Explosions

Abstract: QUANTUM gravitational effects are usually ignored in calculations of the formation and evolution of black holes. The justification for this is that the radius of curvature of space-time outside the event horizon is very large compared to the Planck length (Għ/c3)1/2 ≈ 10−33 cm, the length scale on which quantum fluctuations of the metric are expected to be of order unity. This means that the energy density of particles created by the gravitational field is small compared to the space-time curvature. Even though quantum effects may be small locally, they may still, however, add up to produce a significant effect over the lifetime of the Universe ≈ 1017 s which is very long compared to the Planck time ≈ 10−43 s. The purpose of this letter is to show that this indeed may be the case: it seems that any black hole will create and emit particles such as neutrinos or photons at just the rate that one would expect if the black hole was a body with a temperature of (κ/2π) (ħ/2k) ≈ 10−6 (M/M)K where κ is the surface gravity of the black hole1. As a black hole emits this thermal radiation one would expect it to lose mass. This in turn would increase the surface gravity and so increase the rate of emission. The black hole would therefore have a finite life of the order of 1071 (M/M)−3 s. For a black hole of solar mass this is much longer than the age of the Universe. There might, however, be much smaller black holes which were formed by fluctuations in the early Universe2. Any such black hole of mass less than 1015 g would have evaporated by now. Near the end of its life the rate of emission would be very high and about 1030 erg would be released in the last 0.1 s. This is a fairly small explosion by astronomical standards but it is equivalent to about 1 million 1 Mton hydrogen bombs. It is often said that nothing can escape from a black hole. But in 1974, Stephen Hawking realized that, owing to quantum effects, black holes should emit particles with a thermal distribution of energies — as if the black hole had a temperature inversely proportional to its mass. In addition to putting black-hole thermodynamics on a firmer footing, this discovery led Hawking to postulate 'black hole explosions', as primordial black holes end their lives in an accelerating release of energy.

Materials for terahertz science and technology

Abstract: Terahertz spectroscopy systems use far-infrared radiation to extract molecular spectral information in an otherwise inaccessible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Materials research is an essential component of modern terahertz systems: novel, higher-power terahertz sources rely heavily on new materials such as quantum cascade structures. At the same time, terahertz spectroscopy and imaging provide a powerful tool for the characterization of a broad range of materials, including semiconductors and biomolecules.