Related papers: Optical design for increased interaction length in…
Using a kilojoule class laser, we demonstrate for the first time that high-contrast picosecond pulses are advantageous for ion acceleration. We show that a laser pulse with optimum duration and a large focal spot accelerates electrons…
Optical techniques for spatiotemporal control can produce laser pulses with custom amplitude, phase, or polarization structure. In nonlinear optics and plasma physics, the use of structured pulses typically follows a forward design…
The concept of dielectric-laser acceleration (DLA) provides the highest gradients among breakdown-limited (nonplasma) particle accelerators and thus the potential of miniaturization. The implementation of a fully scalable electron…
Ultrafast laser systems, those with a pulse duration on the order of picoseconds or less, have enabled advancements in a wide variety of fields. Of particular interest to this work, these laser systems are the key component to many High…
Experimental measurements using the OMEGA EP laser facility demonstrated direct laser acceleration (DLA) of electron beams to (505 $\pm$ 75) MeV with (140 $\pm$ 30)~nC of charge from a low-density plasma target using a 400 J, picosecond…
We experimentally generate three-dimensional speckles with customized intensity statistics. By modulating the phase front of a laser beam, far-field speckle patterns maintain the designed intensity probability density function while…
Active plasma lenses have the potential to enable broad-ranging applications of plasma-based accelerators owing to their compact design and radially symmetric kT/m-level focusing fields, facilitating beam-quality preservation and compact…
We discuss the possibility to enhance the sensitivity of optical interferometric devices by increasing its open area using an external field gradient that act differently on the two arms of the interfer-ometers. The use of combined electric…
Laser wakefield acceleration, characterized by the extremely high electric field gradient exceeding 100GV/m, is regarded as a compact and cost affordable technology for the next generation of particle colliders and light sources. However,…
The acceleration of ions in the interaction of high intensity laser pulses with overdense plasmas is investigated with particle-in-cell simulations. For circular polarization of the laser pulses, high-density ion bunches moving into the…
Short-pulse intense lasers have the potential to model extreme astrophysical environments in laboratories. Although there are diagnostics for energetic electrons and ions resulting from laser-plasma interactions, the diagnostics to measure…
In laser-solid interactions, electrons may be generated and subsequently accelerated to energies of the order-of-magnitude of the ponderomotive limit, with the underlying process dominated by direct laser acceleration. Breaking this limit,…
We present the development of a high power fibre laser system to investigate its suitability for use in a transverse electron beam profile monitor i.e. a laserwire. A system capable of producing individual pulses up to $165.8 \pm 0.4 \mu$J…
For the SwissFEL project, an advanced high gradient low emittance gun is under development. Reliable operation with an electric field, preferably above 125 MV/m at a 4 mm gap, in the presence of an UV laser beam, has to be achieved in a…
We propose single-step additive fabrication of graded-index optical elements by introducing the light exposure as the additional dimension to three-dimensional (3D) laser writing, hence (3+1)D writing. We use a commercial printer and…
A micro-pulse lidar at eye-safe wavelength is constructed based on an up-conversion single-photon detector. The ultralow noise detector enables using integration technique to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the atmospheric…
A compact high repetition rate attosecond light source based on a standard laser oscillator combined with plasmonic enhancement is presented. At repetition rates of tens of MHz, we predict focusable pulses with durations of ~< 300…
A novel scheme for the creation of a convergent, or focussing, fast-electron beam generated from ultra-high-intensity laser-solid interactions is described. Self-consistent particle-in-cell simulations are used to demonstrate the efficacy…
Laser-electron beam collisions that aim to generate electron-positron pairs require laser intensities $I \gtrsim 10^{21} ~\textrm{W/cm}^2$, which can be obtained by focusing a 1-PW optical laser to a spot smaller than 10 $~\mu$m. Spatial…
We describe how active feedback routines can be applied at limited repetition rate (5 Hz) to optimize high-power $>10$ TW) laser interactions with clustered gases. Optimization of x-ray production from an argon cluster jet, using a genetic…