Generation and characterization of the highest laser intensities (10(22) W/cm2)

We generated a record peak intensity of 0.7 x 10(22) W/cm2 by focusing a 45-TW laser beam with an f/0.6 off-axis paraboloid. The aberrations of the paraboloid and the low-energy reference laser beam were measured and corrected, and a focal spot size of 0.8 microm was achieved. It is shown that the peak intensity can be increased to 1.0 x 10(22) W/cm2 by correction of the wave front of a 45-TW beam relative to the reference beam. The phase and amplitude measurement provides for an efficient full characterization of the focal field.     

Focusing of a tabletop soft-x-ray laser beam and laser ablation

We focused the beam of a high-repetition-rate capillary-discharge tabletop laser operating at a wavelength of 46.9 nm, using a spherical Si/Sc multilayer mirror. The energy densities significantly exceeded the thresholds for the ablation of metals. Single-shot laser ablation patterns were used in combination with ray-tracing computations to characterize the focused beam. The radiation intensity within the 2-mum -diameter central region of the focal spot was estimated to be approximately 10(11)W/cm(2), with a corresponding energy density of ~100 J/cm(2).     

基于大基模体积的10mJ飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器

文章报导了基于大基模体积的高能量飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器的设计与实验研究,在重复频率10 Hz、抽运能量60 mJ的激励下,得到了单脉冲能量17.4 mJ的种子脉冲放大结果,压缩后的脉冲宽度为40.6 fs,能量为13.9 mJ.借助于此大基模体积再生腔,仅增加一级多通放大,实现了峰值功率达1.9 TW飞秒激光脉冲输出.结果表明,大模体积再生放大不仅降低了后续放大对抽运能量的要求,也可以单独压缩实现再生腔直接输出10 mJ量级的飞秒激光脉冲,是大能量高峰值功率飞秒激光系统的优质前端.     

100 TW级超短超强钛宝石激光装置

 介绍了基于啁啾脉冲放大（CPA）技术的100 TW级钛宝石激光装置SILEX-I。SILEX-I装置主要包括飞秒振荡器、Offner展宽器、多级放大器、以及对应的脉冲压缩器和靶室等。该装置可以输出5,30,100 TW级3个功率段,并分别配套相应的靶室系统,可以满足多种物理实验的需求。目前该装置的末级输出峰值功率达到286 TW,脉宽29.8 fs,靶面聚焦功率密度达到3.36×1020 W/cm²。     

100-TW sub-20-fs Ti:sapphire laser system operating at a 10-Hz repetition rate

We developed a compact three-stage Ti:sapphire amplifier laser system that produced peak power in excess of 100 TW for a pulse duration of less than 19 fs and an average power of 19 W at a 10-Hz repetition rate. A final 40-mm-diameter Ti:sapphire amplifier is pumped by a Nd:YAG master-oscillator-power-amplifier system that produces ~7-J output of 532-nm radiation. The spatial beam quality is approximately 2 times diffraction limited for the full amplified compressed output pulse. With f/3 optics, this system should therefore be capable of producing a focused intensity of ~3x10(20) W/cm(2) .     

Electromagnetic-field distribution measurements in the soft x-ray range: full characterization of a soft x-ray laser beam

We report direct measurement of the electromagnetic-field spatial distribution in a neonlike Ar capillary discharge-driven soft x-ray laser beam. The wave front was fully characterized in a single shot using a Shack-Hartmann diffractive optics sensor. The wave front was observed to be dependent on the discharge pressure and capillary length, as a result of beam refraction variations in the capillary plasma. The results predict approximately 70% of the laser beam energy can be focused into an area 4 times the size of the diffraction-limited spot, reaching intensities of approximately 4 x 10(13) W/cm(2).     

Giant nonlinear optical properties of bismuth thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Thin films of Bi were grown by pulsed laser deposition on glass substrates at room temperature. The thickness and roughness of the films were characterized by grazing-incidence x-ray reflectivity, and the complex refractive indices were measured in the range from 1.5 to 4 eV by spectroscopic ellipsometry. We performed Z-scan measurements to study the third-order optical nonlinearity of the films. It was found that the Bi films exhibited an unusually large nonlinear refractive coefficient, n(I)~1.24x10(-1) cm(2)/kW and nonlinear absorption coefficient, alpha(I)~-3.97 cm/W , at low laser intensity, ~60 kW/cm(2) . This anomaly is believed to have an origin related to melting of the Bi films at the focus spot by the laser beam.     

Millijoule pulse energy high repetition rate femtosecond fiber chirped-pulse amplification system

We report on an ytterbium-doped fiber chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) system delivering millijoule level pulse energy at repetition rates above 100 kHz corresponding to an average power of more than 100 W. The compressed pulses are as short as 800 fs. As the main amplifier, an 80 microm core diameter short length photonic crystal fiber is employed, which allows the generation of pulse energies up to 1.45 mJ with a B-integral as low as 7 at a stretched pulse duration of 2 ns. A stretcher-compressor unit consisting of dielectric diffraction gratings is capable of handling the average power without beam and pulse quality distortions. To our knowledge, we present the highest pulse energy ever extracted from fiber based femtosecond laser systems, and a nearly 2 orders of magnitude higher repetition rate than in previously published millijoule-level fiber CPA systems.     

Intensity limits for propagation of 0.527 microm laser beams through large-scale-length plasmas for inertial confinement fusion

We have established the intensity limits for propagation of a frequency-doubled (2omega, 527 nm) high intensity interaction beam through an underdense large-scale-length plasma. We observe good beam transmission at laser intensities at or below 2x10(14) W/cm(2) and a strong reduction at intensities up to 10(15) W/cm(2) due to the onset of parametric scattering instabilities. We show that temporal beam smoothing by spectral dispersion allows a factor of 2 higher intensities while keeping the beam spray constant, which establishes frequency-doubled light as an option for ignition and burn in inertial confinement fusion experiments.     

重复频率下飞秒激光驱动产生的X射线焦斑测量

为了获取强激光驱动产生的X射线光源焦斑尺寸和空间分辨率,设计了刃边及双网格方法,其中刃边厚度为0.2μm,双网格分别为400目铜网格和394lp/cm的镍网,利用X射线CCD作为探测元件。Ti宝石激光在能量1J、脉宽40fs、频率10 Hz、激光功率密度约为4.4×1018 W/cm2的条件下,重复频率加载圆盘Cu靶。在中国工程物理研究院25TW激光装置上首次获得了X射线的焦斑及网格图像,并推算了该装置的X射线焦斑尺寸为43μm,而网格空间分辨力为34μm。结果表明该刃边及双网格方法适合强激光驱动产生的X射线焦斑尺寸测定。     

Fabrication of tapers with Gaussian refractive-index profile in azo polymers

We have fabricated a refractive-index-tapered waveguide by exposing an azo polymer film to a 532-nm wavelength laser beam focused to about 60-μm spot size at the film with no surface deformation. The converging ability of the taper (ability to increase intensity along the taper) was measured to be 5 db/cm while the loss was 0.39 db/cm. According to the data obtained, the power density increases along the taper while loss is nearly constant along the tapered and non-tapered segments.     

水冷10 Hz Yb:YAG激光放大器热管理

为了控制重频放大器的热致波前畸变,设计并加工了均匀冷却的背面水冷激活镜激光放大器,对放大器的热畸变特性开展了实验研究,实验发现在泵浦功率密度较高即重复频率达到10 Hz,平均功率密度达到200 W/cm2时,放大器的热畸变既影响远场分布又对近场产生显著的调制。近场的调制会给放大器带来较大的损伤风险。为了消除热畸变对近场的调制,首先对泵浦强度分布进行了匀化,然后对介质进行了边缘热平衡控制,消除了热畸变引起的近场调制。通过对上述因素的控制,采用水冷激活镜构型的四程放大器实现了在10 Hz频率下良好运行。在没有进行主动补偿的情况下,实现了远场焦斑优于5倍衍射极限的输出。     

电子束泵浦KrF激光器进行超短脉冲的单束放大实验研究

电子束泵浦KrF激光器口径大、泵浦率高 ,可直接用于进行超短脉冲激光的放大。用天光一号电子束泵浦KrF激光器进行超短脉冲激光放大 ,将超短脉冲激光放大到 2～ 3J、1.2 ps,激光功率达到 2TW。测量了石英窗镜中的非线性吸收系数和超短脉冲激光脉宽的变化     

1.5 J high-beam-quality Nd:LuAG ceramic active mirror laser amplifier

A 1.5 J Nd:LuAG ceramic active mirror laser amplifier with a high beam quality is demonstrated in which a 0.8%(atomic fraction)Nd-doped Nd:LuAG ceramic disk with a diameter of 64 mm and a thickness of 5.5 mm is used as a laser gain medium.A maximum single-pass small-signal gain of 2.59 is measured when the pump energy is 11.5 J,with an injected seed energy of 0.4 J;a maximum output energy of 1.5 J is obtained at the repetition rate of 10 Hz.A far-field beam spot 1.25 times the diffraction limit(DL)is achieved by using a stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror(SBS-PCM)for wavefront correction.     

Focusing coherent soft-x-ray radiation to a micrometer spot size with an intensity of 10(14) W/cm2

We investigate the focusability of intense coherent soft-x-ray radiation generated by high-order harmonic conversion. The 27th-harmonic wave at 29.6 nm is focused by an off-axis parabolic mirror with a SiC/Mg multilayer coating. Focal-spot images are observed from the visible fluorescence induced by the soft-x-ray photons on a Ce:YAG scintillator. We demonstrate focusing of the soft-x-ray beam to a 1-microm spot size with a peak intensity of 1 x 10(14) W/cm2, which is to our knowledge the highest ever reported in the soft-x-ray region.     

fs激光在靶背表面产生的质子束成丝

 介绍了利用3TW/60fs钛宝石超短超强激光与20μm铜薄膜靶相互作用的实验。实验观测到质子束的角分布随激光功率密度有所变化。在较高的功率密度（～1×10¹⁸ W/cm²）时，观测到环状的质子束分布，发散角较大。在较低的激光功率密度（～2×10¹⁷ W/cm²）时，质子束发散角减小，质子束出现成丝现象。质子束的角分布实际上反映了从靶前输运到靶背的超热电子电流横向分布。在输运过程中，由于Weibel不稳定性会使超热电子电流出现空心化并最后破裂成丝。     

利用侧向阴影照相技术探测靶的飞行速度

 建立起一套侧向阴影照相的光学系统,利用可见光作为探测光,在状态方程实验中对靶的飞行速度进行探测。在天光KrF准分子激光装置上进行激光打靶实验,激光波长为248.4 nm。在激光功率密度为8.3×10¹¹ W/cm²的条件下,测得50 μm厚铝靶的飞行速度为3.28 km/s;在激光功率密度为4.7×1010¹¹ W/cm²的条件下,测得带100 μm厚烧蚀层的13 μm厚铝靶的飞行速度为2.52 km/s。最后进行了误差分析计算,实验中探测激光与靶表面偏离角度最大不会超过2.06°,偏离角对实验精度产生的影响可以被忽略。     

Photonuclear physics when a multiterawatt laser pulse interacts with solid targets

When a laser pulse of intensity 10(19) W cm(-2) interacts with solid targets, electrons of energies of some tens of MeV are produced. In a tantalum target, the electrons generate an intense highly directional gamma-ray beam that can be used to carry out photonuclear reactions. The isotopes 11C, 38K, (62,64)Cu, 63Zn, 106Ag, 140Pr, and 180Ta have been produced by (gamma,n) reactions using the VULCAN laser beam. In addition, laser-induced nuclear fission in 238U has been demonstrated, a process which was theoretically predicted at such laser intensities more than ten years ago. The ratio of the 11C and the 62Cu beta(+) activities yields shot-by-shot temperatures of the suprathermal electrons at laser intensities of approximately 10(19) W cm(-2).     

Exawatt-Zettawatt pulse generation and applications

A new amplification method, weaving the three basic compression techniques, Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA), Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification (OPCPA) and Plasma Compression by Backward Raman Amplification (BRA) in plasma, is proposed. It is called C³ for Cascaded Conversion Compression. It has the capability to compress with good efficiency kilojoule to megajoule, nanosecond laser pulses into femtosecond pulses, to produce exawatt-and-beyond peak power. In the future, C³ could be used at large-scale facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) or the Laser Megajoule (LMJ) and open the way to zettawatt level pulses. The beam will be focused to a wavelength spot size with a f#1. The very small beam size, i.e. few centimeters, along with the low laser repetition rate laser system will make possible the use of inexpensive, precision, disposable optics. The resulting intensity will approach the Schwinger value, thus opening up new possibilities in fundamental physics.     

Generation of relativistic intensity pulses at a kilohertz repetition rate

By using adaptive optics to correct the wave-front distortion of a 21-fs, 0.7-mJ, 1-kHz laser, we are able to focus the pulses to a 1-mum spot with an f/1 off-axis parabolic mirror. The peak intensity at the focal position is 1.5x10(18) W/cm(2) , which is to the authors' knowledge the first demonstration of generating relativistic intensity at a kilohertz repetition rate.