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Journal ArticleDOI

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

01 Oct 1993-Optics Letters (Optical Society of America)-Vol. 18, Iss: 19, pp 1651-1653
TL;DR: 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, and is experimentally demonstrate >10,000 times expansion and recompression of ∼25-fs optical pulses.
Abstract: 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.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present 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 discuss the impact of these pulses on high-field physics.
Abstract: 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.

2,547 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a number of consequences of relativistic-strength optical fields are surveyed, including wakefield generation, a relativistically version of optical rectification, in which longitudinal field effects could be as large as the transverse ones.
Abstract: 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.

1,459 citations

Journal Article

1,234 citations


Cites background from "Quintic-phase-limited, spatially un..."

  • ...A number of matched stretcher-compressor arrangements have been demonstrated Lemoff and Barty, 1993; Tournois, 1993; White et al., 1993; Cheriaux et al., 1996 ....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
13 May 1994-Science
TL;DR: The application of the chirped-pulse amplification technique to solid-state lasers combined with the availability of broad-bandwidth materials has made possible the development of small-scale terawatt and now even petawatt laser systems.
Abstract: The application of the chirped-pulse amplification technique to solid-state lasers combined with the availability of broad-bandwidth materials has made possible the development of small-scale terawatt and now even petawatt (1000-terawatt) laser systems. The laser technology used to produce these intense pulses and examples of new phenomena resulting from the application of these systems to atomic and plasma physics are described.

824 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review progress in the development of high peak-power ultrafast lasers, and discuss in detail the design issues which determine the performance of these systems, and summarize some of the new scientific advances made possible by this technology, such as the generation of coherent femtosecond x-ray pulses, and the MeV-energy electron beams and high-energy ions.
Abstract: In this article, we review progress in the development of high peak-power ultrafast lasers, and discuss in detail the design issues which determine the performance of these systems. Presently, lasers capable of generating terawatt peak powers with unprecedented short pulse duration can now be built on a single optical table in a small-scale laboratory, while large-scale lasers can generate peak power of over a petawatt. This progress is made possible by the use of the chirped-pulse amplification technique, combined with the use of broad-bandwidth laser materials such as Ti:sapphire, and the development of techniques for generating and propagating very short (10–30 fs) duration light pulses. We also briefly summarize some of the new scientific advances made possible by this technology, such as the generation of coherent femtosecond x-ray pulses, and the generation of MeV-energy electron beams and high-energy ions.

599 citations

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the amplification and subsequent recompression of optical chirped pulses were demonstrated using a system which produces 1.06 μm laser pulses with pulse widths of 2 ps and energies at the millijoule level.

3,961 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the theory of the diffraction grating pair was developed by expanding the frequency dependence of the phase shift as far as the quadratic frequency term, and the analogy between pulse compression and Fresnel diffraction was treated.
Abstract: The theory of the diffraction grating pair is developed by expanding the frequency dependence of the phase shift as far as the quadratic frequency term. The analogy between pulse compression and Fresnel diffraction is treated. The effect of the cubic phase term is discussed for ultrashort pulses having appreciable fractional bandwidth.

1,343 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a telescope is placed between two grating compressors in order to modify the phase shift for different wavelengths of different wavelengths, and the telescope simultaneously provides high magnification to compensate more than 90 km of standard monomode fibers in the 1.6 μm region, yielding compression factors as high as 3000.
Abstract: A compressor is designed that presents an opposite sign of the dispersion to that of standard two grating compressors. This is achieved by placing a telescope between gratings in order to modify in an adequate manner the phase shift for different wavelengths. The telescope simultaneously provides a high magnification in order to compensate more than 90 km of standard monomode fibers in the 1.6 μm region, yielding compression factors as high as 3000. Analytical expressions for Gaussian beams are found and limitations due to lateral spectral walkoff and telescope pupils are discussed.

646 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a terawatt femtosecond laser system based on Ti:sapphire amplifiers and the technique of chirpedpulse amplification was described and the laser output at 807 nm contains 60 mJ of energy in a 125-fs pulse duration.
Abstract: We describe a terawatt, femtosecond laser system based on Ti:sapphire amplifiers and the technique of chirpedpulse amplification. The laser output at 807 nm contains 60 mJ of energy in a 125-fs pulse duration. The laser beam is nearly diffraction limited and may be focused to an intensity of 10(18) W/cm(2) with an f/6 optic.

142 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The oscillator presented has the potential for producing sub-10-fs pulses in the 800-nm wavelength region, and the position of the dispersive resonance is used to determine the ratio of the net second- and third-order intracavity dispersions.
Abstract: We report the operating characteristics of a self-mode-locked Ti:sapphire solitary laser at reduced group-delay dispersion. The generation of ≈12.3 fs near-sech2 optical pulses at 775 nm is reported, together with experimental evidence for the dominant role of third-order dispersion (TOD) as a limiting factor to further pulse shortening in the oscillator. At reduced second-order dispersion excessive residual TOD is shown to lead to dispersive wave generation, and the position of the dispersive resonance is used to determine the ratio of the net second- and third-order intracavity dispersions. Since the magnitude of TOD rapidly decreases with increasing wavelength in prism-pair dispersion-compensated resonators, the oscillator presented has the potential for producing sub-10-fs pulses in the 800-nm wavelength region.

140 citations