Ted Borger

Bio: Ted Borger is an academic researcher from University of Texas at Austin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Inertial confinement fusion & Laser. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 7 publications receiving 207 citations.

Demonstration of a 1.1 petawatt laser based on a hybrid optical parametric chirped pulse amplification/mixed Nd:glass amplifier

Abstract: We present the design and performance of the Texas Petawatt Laser, which produces a 186 J167 fs pulse based on the combination of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and mixed Nd:glass amplification. OPCPA provides the majority of the gain and is used to broaden and shape the seed spectrum, while amplification in Nd:glass accounts for >99% of the final pulse energy. Compression is achieved with highly efficient multilayer dielectric gratings.

Diagnostics improvement in the ABC facility and preliminary tests on laser interaction with light-atom clusters and p+11B targets

Abstract: The diagnostics of particle flows in Inertial Confinement Fusion experiments is a delicate issue, due to the fast timescales and to the strong radiative electromagnetic contributions This makes the discrimination of the different particles produced by the laser–plasma interaction not trivial, and requires the use of several diagnostic techniques We describe here the diagnostics improvement in the ABC facility They will provide more detailed analysis of microwave fields and particles originating from the interaction of laser with targets foreseen for future experiments

Study of the yield of D-D, D-3He fusion reactions produced by the interaction of intense ultrafast laser pulses with molecular clusters

Abstract: The interaction of intense ultrafast laser pulses with molecular clusters produces a Coulomb explosion of the clusters. In this process, the positive ions from the clusters might gain enough kinetic energy to drive nuclear reactions. An experiment to measure the yield of D-D and D-3He fusion reactions was performed at University of Texas Center for High Intensity Laser Science. Laser pulses of energy ranging from 100 to 180 J and duration 150fs were delivered by the Petawatt laser. The temperature of the energetic deuterium ions was measured using a Faraday cup, whereas the yields of the D-D reactions were measured by detecting the characteristic 2.45 MeV neutrons and 3.02 MeV protons. In order to allow the simultaneous measurement of 3He(D,p)4He and D-D reactions, different concentrations of D2 and 3He or CD4 and 3He were mixed in the gas jet target. The 2.45 MeV neutrons from the D(D,n)3He reaction were detecteded as well as the 14.7 MeV protons from the 3He(D,p)4He reaction. The preliminary results will be shown.

kJ-10 PW class laser system at 1 shot a minute (Conference Presentation)

Abstract: State-of-the-art physics experiments are pushing the development of lasers with ultra-high peak power pulses. 4 PW pulses have been produced with TiSa [1] and 10 PW with the same gain medium is scheduled at LULI (Apollon) and at ELI-NP. The other approach is to use Nd-doped glass as gain medium, whose interest is in its capability of delivering higher energy at the expense of a longer pulse duration. Based on this gain material combined with an OPCPA based front-end, a kJ-10 PW class laser has been designed and built. The front-end, consisting of picosecond OPCPA, temporal pulse cleaning and nanosecond OPCPA, delivers pulses with excess of 4 Joules at 5 Hz with a shaped spectrum to pre-compensate for gain distortions in Nd:glass power amplifiers. Two liquid-cooled, mixed glass power amplifiers, namely PA1 and PA2, are used for further amplification. Up to now, they have been activated demonstrating 70 J at 1 shot a minute after PA1 and 1 kJ at 1 shot every 7 minutes for PA2. The Fourier limit of the spectrum is 150 fs meaning 6 PW capability after compression. This energy level has been obtained with only 3 Joules seed energy, from the OPCPA and partial activation of PA2. Scaling of this result suggests that more than 1.7 kJ should be obtained leading to 10 PW after compression while the output spectrum will remain compatible with 150 Fs thanks to the OPCPA spectral tailoring capability.

Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry

Abstract: A fast-Fourier-transform method of topography and interferometry is proposed. By computer processing of a noncontour type of fringe pattern, automatic discrimination is achieved between elevation and depression of the object or wave-front form, which has not been possible by the fringe-contour-generation techniques. The method has advantages over moire topography and conventional fringe-contour interferometry in both accuracy and sensitivity. Unlike fringe-scanning techniques, the method is easy to apply because it uses no moving components.

Quasi-monoenergetic laser-plasma acceleration of electrons to 2 GeV

Abstract: Laser-plasma accelerators can produce high-energy electron bunches over just a few centimetres of distance, offering possible table-top accelerator capabilities. Wang et al. break the current 1 GeV barrier by applying a petawatt laser to accelerate electrons nearly monoenergetically up to 2 GeV.

Petawatt and exawatt class lasers worldwide

Abstract: In the 2015 review paper 'Petawatt Class Lasers Worldwide' a comprehensive overview of the current status of highpower facilities of >200 TW was presented. This was largely based on facility specifications, with some description of their uses, for instance in fundamental ultra-high-intensity interactions, secondary source generation, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). With the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to Professors Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou for the development of the technique of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), which made these lasers possible, we celebrate by providing a comprehensive update of the current status of ultra-high-power lasers and demonstrate how the technology has developed. We are now in the era of multi-petawatt facilities coming online, with 100 PW lasers being proposed and even under construction. In addition to this there is a pull towards development of industrial and multidisciplinary applications, which demands much higher repetition rates, delivering high-average powers with higher efficiencies and the use of alternative wavelengths: mid-IR facilities. So apart from a comprehensive update of the current global status, we want to look at what technologies are to be deployed to get to these new regimes, and some of the critical issues facing their development.

Petawatt class lasers worldwide

Abstract: The use of ultra-high intensity laser beams to achieve extreme material states in the laboratory has become almost routine with the development of the petawatt laser. Petawatt class lasers have been constructed for specific research activities, including particle acceleration, inertial confinement fusion and radiation therapy, and for secondary source generation (x-rays, electrons, protons, neutrons and ions). They are also now routinely coupled, and synchronized, to other large scale facilities including megajoule scale lasers, ion and electron accelerators, x-ray sources and z-pinches. The authors of this paper have tried to compile a comprehensive overview of the current status of petawatt class lasers worldwide. The definition of ‘petawatt class’ in this context is a laser that delivers .

Realization of laser intensity over 10 23 W/cm 2

Abstract: High-intensity lasers are critical for the exploration of strong field quantum electrodynamics. We report here a demonstration of laser intensity exceeding ${{1}}{{{0}}^{23}}\;{\rm{W}}/{\rm{cm}}^2$ with the CoReLS petawatt (PW) laser. After wavefront correction and tight focusing with a two-stage adaptive optical system and an f/1.1 ($f = {{300}}\;{\rm{mm}}$) off-axis parabolic mirror, we obtained near diffraction-limited focusing with a spot size of 1.1 µm (FWHM). From the measurement of 80 consecutive laser shots at 0.1 Hz, we achieved a peak intensity of $({1.1} \;{{\pm}}\; {0.2}) \times {{1}}{{{0}}^{23}}\;{\rm{W}}/{\rm{cm}}^2$, verifying the applicability of the ultrahigh intensity PW laser for ultrahigh intensity laser–matter interactions. From the statistical analysis of the PW laser shots, we identified that the intensity fluctuation originated from air turbulence in the laser beam path and beam pointing. Our achievement could accelerate the study of strong field quantum electrodynamics by enabling exploration of nonlinear Compton scattering and Breit–Wheeler pair production.