Related papers: Towards manipulating relativistic laser pulses wit…
Generation of highly collimated monoenergetic relativistic ion beams is one of the most challenging and promising areas in ultra-intense laser-matter interactions because of the numerous scientific and technological applications that…
Achieving high repeatability and efficiency in laser-induced strong shock wave excitation remains a significant technical challenge, as evidenced by the extensive efforts undertaken at large-scale national laboratories to optimize the…
Advances in ultra-intense laser technology are enabling, for the first time, relativistic intensities at mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths. Anticipating further experimental research in this domain, we present high-resolution two…
Laser-driven ion acceleration provides ultra-short, high-charge, low-emittance beams, which are desirable for a wide range of high-impact applications. Yet after decades of research, a significant increase in maximum ion energy is still…
Pulses of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light, with wavelengths between 10 and 100$\,$nm, can be used to image and excite ultra-fast phenomena such as the motion of atomic electrons. Here we show that the illumination of plasma with…
Since the invention of chirped pulse amplification, which was recognized by a Nobel prize in physics in 2018, there has been a continuing increase in available laser intensity. Combined with advances in our understanding of the kinetics of…
At laser intensities above 1023W/cm2 the interaction of a laser with a plasma is qualitatively different to the interactions at lower intensities. In this intensity regime solid targets start to become relativistically underdense, gamma-ray…
The generation of energetic electron bunches by the interaction of a short, ultra-intense ($I>10^{19} \textrm{W/cm}^2$) laser pulse with "grating" targets has been investigated in a regime of ultra-high pulse-to-prepulse contrast…
Spatiotemporal control of laser pulses at relativistic intensities is a longstanding goal with broad implications in laser-plasma acceleration, high-brightness radiation sources, and extreme-field science. Laser pulses with helical…
Relativistic transparency enables volumetric laser interaction with overdense plasmas and direct laser acceleration of electrons to relativistic velocities. The dense electron current generates a magnetic filament with field strength of the…
Photonic components responsive to external optical stimuli are attracting increasing interest, because their properties can be manipulated by light with fast switching times, high spatial definition, and potentially remote control. These…
Laser-plasma technology promises a drastic reduction of the size of high energy electron accelerators. It could make free electron lasers available to a broad scientific community, and push further the limits of electron accelerators for…
We present experimental results of vacuum laser acceleration (VLA) of electrons using radially polarized laser pulses interacting with a plasma mirror. Tightly focused radially polarized laser pulses have been proposed for electron…
This research demonstrates high-repetition-rate laser-accelerated ion beams via dual, intersecting, counterpropagating laser-driven blast waves to precisely shape underdense gas into long-lived near-critical density targets. The collision…
Ion acceleration in laser-produced dense plasmas is a key topic of many recent investigations thanks to its potential applications. Indeed, at forthcoming laser intensities ($I \gtrsim 10^{23} \text{W}\,\text{cm}^{-2}$) interaction of laser…
We review studies of superintense laser interaction with solid targets where the generation of propagating surface plasmons (or surface waves) plays a key role. These studies include the onset of plasma instabilities at the irradiated…
Polarization and radiation reaction (RR) effects in the interaction of a superintense laser pulse (I > 10^23 W/cm^2) with a thin plasma foil are investigated with three dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. For a linearly…
Ion acceleration from gaseous targets driven by relativistic-intensity lasers was demonstrated as early as the late 90s, yet most of the experiments conducted to date have involved picosecond-duration, Nd:glass lasers operating at low…
We report a plasma-based strong THz source generated by using intense femtosecond laser pulses to irradiate solid targets at relativistic intensity >10^18W/cm2. Energies up to 50 microJ/sr per THz pulse is observed in the specular direction…
We propose a new approach to high-intensity relativistic laser-driven electron acceleration in a plasma. Here, we demonstrate that a plasma wave generated by a stimulated forward-scattering of an incident laser pulse can be in the longest…