Related papers: Plasma mirrors as a path to the Schwinger limit
In this letter, cutting-edge 3D Particle-In-Cell simulations are used to demonstrate that so-called relativistic plasma mirrors irradiated by PetaWatt (PW) lasers and naturally curved by laser radiation pressure can be used to tightly focus…
We report an experimental-computational study of the optical properties of plasma mirrors (PMs) at the incident laser frequency when irradiated directly at relativistic intensity (1e18 < I_0 < 1e19 W/cm^2) by near-normally incident (4…
Relativistic flying mirrors in plasmas are realized as thin dense electron (or electron-ion) layers accelerated by high-intensity electromagnetic waves to velocities close to the speed of light in vacuum. The reflection of an…
The advent of ultrahigh-power femtosecond lasers creates a need for optical components suitable to handle ultrahigh light intensities. Due to the unavoidable laser-induced ionization of matter, these components will have to be based on a…
Plasma-based optics have emerged as a powerful platform for manipulating and amplifying ultra-intense laser pulses. However, the inherently nonlinear and dynamic nature of plasma leads to significant spatial, spectral, and temporal…
Exceptional pulse contrast can be critical for ultraintense laser experiments, particularly when using solid density targets, and their use is becoming widespread. However, current plasma mirror technology is becoming inadequate for the new…
A method to generate ultrahigh intense electromagnetic fields is suggested, based on the laser pulse compression, carrier frequency upshift and focusing by a counter-propagating breaking plasma wave, relativistic flying parabolic mirror.…
Flying plasma mirrors induced by intense lasers has been proposed as a promising way to generate few-cycle EUV or X-ray lasers. In addition, if such a relativistic plasma mirror can accelerate, then it would serve as an analog black hole to…
The efficient generation of intense X-rays and $\gamma$-radiation is studied. The scheme is based on the relativistic mirror concept, {\it i.e.}, a flying thin plasma slab interacts with a counterpropagating laser pulse, reflecting part of…
The Schwinger limit could be approached by focusing to its diffraction limit the light reflected by a plasma mirror irradiated by a multi-petawatt laser. We explore numerically the interaction between such intense light and matter. We find…
The relativistic flying parabolic mirror can provide a higher laser intensity than the intensity a current laser system can reach via the optical-focusing scheme. A weakly-relativistic laser intensity (1.8$\times$10$^{17}$ W/cm$^2$, $\eta$…
Reflection at relativistically moving plasma mirrors is a well-known approach for frequency conversion as an alternative to nonlinear techniques. A key issue with plasma mirrors is the need for a high carrier concentration, of order 10^21…
We report on attosecond-scale control of high-harmonic and electron emission from plasma mirrors driven by relativistic-intensity near-single-cycle lightwaves at kHz repetition rate. By controlling the waveform of the intense light…
A plasma mirror is an optical device for high-power, ultrashort-wavelength electromagnetic fields, utilizing a sheet of relativistic oscillating electrons to generate and manipulate light. In this work, we propose that the spatiotemporally…
The advent of Petawatt-class laser systems allows generating electro-magnetic fields of unprecedented strength in a controlled environment, driving increasingly more efforts to probe yet unobserved processes through their interaction with…
The question of electromagnetic field intensification towards the values typical for strong field Quantum Electrodynamics is of fundamental importance. One of the most promising intensification schemes is based on the relativistic-flying…
Since the advent of chirped pulse amplification1 the peak power of lasers has grown dramatically and opened the new branch of high field science, delivering the focused irradiance, electric fields of which drive electrons into the…
Relativistic mirrors can be realized with strongly nonlinear Langmuir waves excited by intense laser pulses in underdense plasma. On reflection from the relativistic mirror the incident light affects the mirror motion. The corresponding…
A method for the controlled generation of intense high frequency electromagnetic fields by a breaking Langmuir wave (relativistic flying mirrors) in a gradually inhomogeneous plasma is proposed. The wave breaking threshold depends on the…
The generation of ultra-strong attosecond pulses through laser-plasma interactions offers the opportunity to surpass the intensity of any known laboratory radiation source, giving rise to new experimental possibilities, such as quantum…