Characteristic investigation of ablative laser propulsion driven by nanosecond laser pulses

The momentum transfer and the specific impulse of the ablative laser propulsion of nanosecond laser irradiation on copper, lead, aluminum and graphite targets are investigated. The effects of the ambient pressure and laser focal spot sizes on the target momentum are measured. The results show that the target momentum strongly relates to the ambient pressure and target property. The highest target momentum about 2.28 g·cm/s is obtained on lead targets under 1 atmospheric pressure. With the increase of the focal spot sizes, the specific impulse decreases. The highest specific impulse in vacuum is about 950 s on copper targets. PACS 52.75.Di; 52.38.Mf; 52.50.Jm     

Ripple formation during deep hole drilling in copper with ultrashort laser pulses

Cross sections of deep holes produced by ultrashort laser pulses and showing a variety of microstructural formations are presented. After tens of thousands of 800 nm wavelength pulses, the walls of the holes show distinct ripples with a period of ∼300 nm. It is demonstrated that these ripples are the result of light interference effects. Indeed, the ripples are perpendicular to the electric field of the laser beam and their spacing scales with the laser wavelength. Additional fine ripples with spacing of ∼75 nm were also observed. PACS 62.20.Mk; 62.25.+g; 79.20.Ds     

High repetition rate all-normal dispersion Yb:fiber laser for minimum pulses

Simulation and experimental results for high repetition rate all-normal dispersion Yb:fiber ring lasers are demonstrated for the cavity dispersion from 0.01 to 0.025 ps 2 .The simulation shows that the pulse spectrum has the potential to reach>30 nm for the dispersion of 0.014 ps 2 under practical pump power. This potential is proved by the experiment.Maximum spectral width of 30 nm is achieved at the repetition rate of 285 MHz under the 850-mW pump power.Average output power is 550 mW and dechirped pulse is 78 fs.     

空气中飞秒激光自聚焦等离子体通道的电导特性

 通过电学探测法,采用不同焦距的聚焦透镜,在不同激光能量、不同极性外加电压的条件下,对大气中的飞秒激光自聚焦等离子体电离通道特性进行了实验研究。发现激光脉冲经不同焦距的聚焦透镜作用后均存在较长的电离通道,通道的等效电阻率有所变化,通常电阻率的最大值出现在透镜的几何焦点附近,并且焦距越长,此电阻率的局部峰值点离几何焦点位置越近。在外加不同极性电压时,自由电子受到所加静电场作用力、洛仑兹力以及有质动力的共同作用。焦点前,通道电流变化不明显,加正向电压产生的电流略微大于加负向电压时的电流;焦点后则是加负向电压产生的电流大于加正向电压时的电流。     

空气中飞秒激光自聚焦等离子体通道的电导特性

通过电学探测法,采用不同焦距的聚焦透镜,在不同激光能量、不同极性外加电压的条件下,对大气中的飞秒激光自聚焦等离子体电离通道特性进行了实验研究。发现激光脉冲经不同焦距的聚焦透镜作用后均存在较长的电离通道,通道的等效电阻率有所变化,通常电阻率的最大值出现在透镜的几何焦点附近,并且焦距越长,此电阻率的局部峰值点离几何焦点位置越近。在外加不同极性电压时,自由电子受到所加静电场作用力、洛仑兹力以及有质动力的共同作用。焦点前,通道电流变化不明显,加正向电压产生的电流略微大于加负向电压时的电流;焦点后则是加负向电压产生的电流大于加正向电压时的电流。     

Plasma channel formed by ultraviolet laser pulses at 193 nm in air

The propagation of picosecond deep ultraviolet laser pulse at wavelength of 193 nm in air is numerically investigated. Long plasma channel can be formed due to the competition between Kerr self-focusing and ionization induced defocusing. The plasma channel with electron density of above 10^13/cm^3 can be formed over 70 m by 50-ps, 20-mJ laser pulses. The fluctuation of laser intensity and electron density inside ultraviolet （UV） plasma channel is significantly lower UV laser by air is considered in the simulation and it the limit of the length of plasma channel. than that of infrared pulse. The linear absorption of is shown that the linear absorption is important for the limit of the length of plasma channel.     

High repetition rate laser pulses amplified by Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic amplifier under CW arc-lamp-light pumping

Laser pulses with high repetitive rate generated from a Q-switch microchip Nd:YAG oscillator were amplified by Active mirror composed of Nd/Cr:YAG ceramic pumped by CW arc-lamp. The laser pulses were amplified, and saturation of averaged output laser power was observed. Repetitive ratio of injected laser pulses was changed from 20 to 100 kHz. Averaged output laser power and gain were measured, and gain coefficient and power-extraction efficiency were evaluated. Output laser power was calculated and compared to experimentally measured one, and the calculated results are consistent with the experimental ones. For amplification of laser pulses with high repetitive ratio, this laser material can realize very high laser gain with low pumping power density and high optical-optical conversion efficiency under CW-lamp-light pumping.     

Asynchronous cross-correlation for weak ultrafast deep ultraviolet laser pulses

We have developed a technique for the temporal characterisation of weak deep-ultraviolet (DUV) ultrashort laser pulses by combining asynchronous optical sampling with difference-frequency mixing. The intensity profile of picosecond DUV pulses, with peak powers as low as 2.5 W, have been measured accurately with a resolution of 50 fs. The method can be extended to complete amplitude and phase characterisation of few femtosecond laser pulses at DUV wavelengths.     

High harmonic imaging of few-cycle laser pulses

We show that the strength of the central electric field peaks in a few-cycle laser pulse can be recovered from a frequency-time image of the high harmonic spectrum generated in a gas volume. Pulse intensity, duration, and also the carrier-envelope phase phi(CE) can be determined. A simple and robust observable is defined that provides a gauge of phi(CE) for pulse durations up to three optical cycles, corresponding to 7.8 fs FWHM at the Ti:sapphire wavelength of 800 nm.     

The processes of formation of ultrashort laser pulses

This paper describes and reviews experimental results on both the processes involved in the establishment of ultrashort light pulses during their build-up from noise and in their subsequent growth and narrowing. Schemes for the improvement of the USP train are suggested.     

Dense pair plasma generation by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel

An all-optical scheme for high-density pair plasmas generation is proposed by two laser pulses colliding in a cylinder channel. Two dimensional particle-in-cell simulations show that, when the first laser pulse propagates in the cylinder,electrons are extracted out of the cylinder inner wall and accelerated to high energies. These energetic electrons later run into the second counter-propagating laser pulse, radiating a large amount of high-energy gamma photons via the Compton back-scattering process. The emitted gamma photons then collide with the second laser pulse to initiate the Breit–Wheeler process for pairs production. Due to the strong self-generated fields in the cylinder, positrons are confined in the channel to form dense pair plasmas. Totally, the maximum density of pair plasmas can be 4.60 × 10~(27)m~(-3), for lasers with an intensity of 4×10~(22)W·cm~(-2). Both the positron yield and density are tunable by changing the cylinder radius and the laser parameters. The generated dense pair plasmas can further facilitate investigations related to astrophysics and particle physics.     

Structure formation on the surface of alloys irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses

Laser-induced periodic surface structures with different spatial characteristics have been observed after multiple linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulse (120 fs, 800 nm, 1 Hz to 1 kHz pulse repetition frequency) irradiation on alloys. With the increasing number of pulses, nanoripples, classical ripples and modulation ripples with a period close to half of classical ripples have all been induced. The generation of second-harmonic has been supposed to be the main mechanism in the formation of modulation ripples.     

High repetition rate plasma mirror for temporal contrast enhancement of terawatt femtosecond laser pulses by three orders of magnitude

We present a plasma mirror configuration that improves the temporal pulse contrast of femtosecond terawatt laser pulses by a factor of thousand using a single antireflection coated glass target. The device provides ultra-high contrast for experiments with a maximum repetition rate of 10 Hz. A third-order cross-correlator has been used to measure the temporal pulse contrast for several different plasma mirror targets. It is shown that the ASE can be suppressed to a level of 10⁻¹¹. A comparison between a triggered and an untriggered plasma mirror reveals differences in the intensity distribution of the focused beam. The triggered plasma mirror produces a slightly larger focus due to the expansion of the triggered plasma mirror at −3 ps before the main pulse. We propose a cost-effective AR-coated and a blank glass target to reduce the costs of the consumable target material. High-harmonic radiation on solid surfaces has been generated with different plasma mirror targets to demonstrate the high laser contrast.     

联合双原子在组合脉冲辐照下的高次谐波发射

首先采用经典的“三步模型“理论,分析了一维普薛耳-特勒势(P-T势)模型原子在组合脉冲作用下的动力学行为,进而利用该组合脉冲辐照联合双原子模型,通过调节组合脉冲的场幅、相位以及设定原子的核间距,使原子有适当的电离和较大的复合效率,因而在截止位置远达Ip 8Up处获得了效率高达10-9的高次谐波发射.     

一维联合双原子在组合激光脉冲作用下的超高次谐波发射

本文分析了在联合原子方案下高于Ip+3.2Up的超高次谐波发射效率极低的主要因素:除电子间的排斥作用外,更重要的原因乃是在通常情况下外来电子在非母离子中没有布居.据此,提出了一个有效解决这个难题的组合激光脉冲方案,从而将高达Ip+8Up的超高次谐波的发射效率提高了三个数量级以上.     

Molecular dynamics simulation study of deep hole drilling in iron by ultrashort laser pulses

Classical molecular dynamics simulation technique is applied for investigation of the iron ablation by ultrashort laser pulses at conditions of deep hole for the first time. Laser pulse duration of 0.1 ps at wavelength of 800 nm is considered. The evolution of the ablated material in deep hole geometry differs completely from the free expansion regime as two major mechanisms are important for the final hole shape. The first one is the deposition of the ablated material on the walls, which narrows the hole at a certain height above its bottom. The second mechanism is related to ablation of the material from the walls (secondary ablation) caused by its interaction with the primary ablated particles. Properties of the secondary ablated particles in terms of the velocity and the angular distribution are obtained. The material removal efficiency is estimated for vacuum or in Ar environment conditions. In the latter case, the existence of well-defined vapor cloud having low center of the mass velocity is found. The processes observed affect significantly the material expulsion and can explain the decrease of the drilling rate with the hole depth increase, an effect observed experimentally.     

High power supercontinuum generation by dual-color femtosecond laser pulses in fused silica

High power supercontinuum (SC) is generated by focusing 800 nm and 400 nm femtosecond laser pulses in fused silica with a microlens array. It is found that the spectrum of the SC is getting broader compared with the case of a single laser pulse, and the spectral energy density between the two fundamental laser wavelengths is getting significantly higher by optimizing the phase matching angle of the BBO. It exceeds μJ/nm over 490 nm range which is from 380 nm to 870 nm, overcoming the disadvantage of relative lower power in the ranges far from the fundamental wavelength.     

基于高重复频率飞秒激光直写技术制作衍射光栅的研究

基于由光子晶体光纤飞秒激光器产生的高重复频率飞秒激光搭建了飞秒激光微加工系统,利用LabVIEW编写程序精密控制三维移动平台的移动路径和高速快门,在加工功率为1.5W、移动速率为1mm/s时,利用直写技术在无胶铬版上得到了微米量级的任意形状的平面衍射光栅。利用CCD相机对光栅制备过程进行实时监视,保证了光栅的加工质量。制备的光栅在显微镜下观察,条纹边缘清晰、线纹粗细均匀。使用He-Ne激光照射加工的光栅,可以获得清晰、稳定、与理论符合很好的夫琅和费(Frauhofer)衍射图样,显示了所加工的光栅具有良好的光学性能。实验结果也表明了光子晶体光纤飞秒激光在光栅制作过程中所具备的良好的加工性能。