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Photonics
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Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser
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Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Lasers, Light Sources and Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2023) | Viewed by 7127

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zhaoyang Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai, China
Interests: high peak-power laser; optical field control; nonlinear optics
Prof. Dr. Yuxin Leng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 201800, China
Interests: ultra-intense and ultra-short laser and its applications; nonlinear optics; MIR ultra-fast intense laser; pump-probe techniques in materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The chirped pulse amplification (CPA) invented in 1985 has made it possible to realize short-pulse petawatt (PW) lasers, and dozens of picosecond/femtosecond PW lasers and recently two 10-PW lasers have been built worldwide for fundamental research, industrial services, defense security and so on. The optical parametric CPA (OPCPA) proposed in 1992 is another technological improvement that reduces the pulse duration of the CPA laser and thus further increases the peak power, which is going to be used for the construction of several 100-PW-class lasers to open up vacuum physics, anti-matter, dark matter and other research. However, the development from 10-PW to 100-PW lasers will face many challenges from technological and engineering aspects.

This Special Issue invites manuscripts that introduce the recent advances in “ultrashort ultra-intense (petawatt) laser”. All theoretical, numerical, and experimental papers are accepted. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Ultra-broadband/ultra-short laser generation and amplification;
  • Pulse stretching, compression and measurement;
  • Precision dispersion compensation and measurement;
  • Temporal contrast enhancement and measurement;
  • Beam propagation and wavefront detection and control;
  • Beam pointing, smoothing, combination, and focusing;
  • Spatio-temporal/spectral coupling analysis, measurement, compensation, and control;
  • Plasma methods for peak-power/intensity enhancement;
  • Plasma methods for contrast enhancement;
  • High average-power laser technology;
  • Progress in high-quality optics, e.g., gratings, coatings, crystals, etc.;
  • Optical damage mechanism, measurement, and improvement.

Prof. Dr. Zhaoyang Li
Prof. Dr. Yuxin Leng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 495 KiB  
Article
A Promising Route to Compact and Economic Sub-15 fs, PW-Level Ti:Sapphire Lasers
by Fenxiang Wu, Jiabing Hu, Zongxin Zhang, Yang Zhao, Peile Bai, Haidong Chen, Xun Chen, Yi Xu, Yuxin Leng and Ruxin Li
Photonics 2024, 11(2), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11020121 - 28 Jan 2024
Viewed by 886
Abstract
In quest of achieving compact and economic PW-level Ti:Sapphire (Ti:sa) lasers with a sub-15 fs pulse duration, a modified hybrid amplification scheme, which combines the optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) and the chirped pulse amplifier (CPA), is presented and numerically investigated in [...] Read more.
In quest of achieving compact and economic PW-level Ti:Sapphire (Ti:sa) lasers with a sub-15 fs pulse duration, a modified hybrid amplification scheme, which combines the optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) and the chirped pulse amplifier (CPA), is presented and numerically investigated in this paper. The key characteristic of this scheme is that the conventional Ti:sa regenerative amplifier and preamplifier are replaced by a dual-crystal OPCPA front-end, which is spectrally matched with the upstream seed source and the downstream Ti:sa amplifiers and, therefore, can realize a broader spectrum. Moreover, some useful laser techniques are also applied to suppress the spectral gain narrowing and redshift in the Ti:sa CPA chain and to control the residual dispersion in the laser system. This way, fewer amplification stages and pump lasers are required to reach PW-level peak power compared with traditional all-CPA Ti:sa lasers. Numerical results indicate that pulse energy and spectral bandwidth can reach up to ∼22 J and ∼125 nm at full width at half maximum (FWHM), respectively, only by employing three-stage amplifiers. After compression, PW-level lasers with a ∼13.3 fs pulse duration are expected. This work can offer a promising route for the development of compact and economic PW-level Ti:sa lasers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser)
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15 pages, 11531 KiB  
Article
Laser Output Performance and Temporal Quality Enhancement at the J-KAREN-P Petawatt Laser Facility
by Hiromitsu Kiriyama, Yasuhiro Miyasaka, Akira Kon, Mamiko Nishiuchi, Akito Sagisaka, Hajime Sasao, Alexander S. Pirozhkov, Yuji Fukuda, Koichi Ogura, Kotaro Kondo, Nobuhiko Nakanii, Yuji Mashiba, Nicholas P. Dover, Liu Chang, Masaki Kando, Stefan Bock, Tim Ziegler, Thomas Püschel, Hans-Peter Schlenvoigt, Karl Zeil and Ulrich Schrammadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Photonics 2023, 10(9), 997; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10090997 - 31 Aug 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1312
Abstract
We described the output performance and temporal quality enhancement of the J-KAREN-P petawatt laser facility. After wavefront correction using a deformable mirror, focusing with an f/1.3 off-axis parabolic mirror delivered a peak intensity of 1022 W/cm2 at 0.3 PW power levels. [...] Read more.
We described the output performance and temporal quality enhancement of the J-KAREN-P petawatt laser facility. After wavefront correction using a deformable mirror, focusing with an f/1.3 off-axis parabolic mirror delivered a peak intensity of 1022 W/cm2 at 0.3 PW power levels. Technologies to improve the temporal contrast were investigated and tested. The origins of pre-pulses generated by post-pulses were identified and the elimination of most pre-pulses by removal of the post-pulses with wedged optics was achieved. A cascaded femtosecond optical parametric amplifier based on the utilization of the idler pulse rather than the signal pulse was developed for the complete elimination of the remaining pre-pulses. The orders of magnitude enhancement of the pedestal before the main pulse were obtained by using a higher surface quality of the convex mirror in the Öffner stretcher. A single plasma mirror was installed in the J-KAREN-P laser beam line for further contrast improvement of three orders of magnitude. The above developments indicate, although it has not been directly measured, the contrast can be as high as approximately 1015 up to 40 ps before the main pulse. We also showed an overview of the digital transformation (DX) of the system, enabling remote and automated operation of the J-KAREN-P laser facility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser)
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11 pages, 2101 KiB  
Communication
Effect of a Femtosecond-Scale Temporal Structure of a Laser Driver on Generation of Betatron Radiation by Wakefield Accelerated Electrons
by Andrey D. Sladkov and Artem V. Korzhimanov
Photonics 2023, 10(2), 108; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10020108 - 20 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1385
Abstract
The brightness of betatron radiation generated by laser wakefield accelerated electrons can be increased by utilizing the laser driver with shorter duration at the same energy. Such shortening is possible by pulse compression after its nonlinear self-phase modulation in a thin plate. However, [...] Read more.
The brightness of betatron radiation generated by laser wakefield accelerated electrons can be increased by utilizing the laser driver with shorter duration at the same energy. Such shortening is possible by pulse compression after its nonlinear self-phase modulation in a thin plate. However, this method can lead to a rather complex femtosecond-scale time structure of the pulse. In this work, the results of numerical simulations show that the presence of prepulses containing a few percent of the main pulse energy can significantly alter the acceleration process and lead to either lower or higher energies of accelerated electrons and generated photons, depending on the prepulse parameters. Simultaneously, the presence of a pedestal inhibits the acceleration process lowering the brightness of the betatron source. Furthermore, postpulses following the main pulse are not found to have a significant effect on betatron radiation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser)
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8 pages, 2968 KiB  
Article
Wavefront Correction in Vacuum of SULF-1PW Laser Beamline
by Fenxiang Wu, Ende Li, Yi Xu, Jiayi Qian, Jiacheng Zhu, Jiabing Hu, Yang Zhao, Peile Bai, Zongxin Zhang, Yuxin Leng and Zeping Yang
Photonics 2022, 9(11), 872; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9110872 - 18 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1391
Abstract
The focusing quality of high peak power lasers plays a crucial role in laser wakefield electron acceleration investigations. We report here an improvement in the focusing quality of the SULF-1PW laser beamline, planning to drive and generate 5~10 GeV electron beams. After the [...] Read more.
The focusing quality of high peak power lasers plays a crucial role in laser wakefield electron acceleration investigations. We report here an improvement in the focusing quality of the SULF-1PW laser beamline, planning to drive and generate 5~10 GeV electron beams. After the wavefront correction in vacuum with an adaptive optical system and the focusing with an f/56 off-axis parabolic mirror, near-diffraction-limited focal spots with a size of 52 × 54 μm2 at full width at half maximum are achieved, and the enclosed energy inside this size is ~36.6%. Consequently, the focused intensity of ~1.66 × 1019 W/cm2 can be achieved at 1 PW peak power. Moreover, we also examine the wavefront stability in air and vacuum, respectively. From the statistical analysis of 1900 shots of successive laser pulses at 1 Hz, we identify the wavefront fluctuation resulting from air turbulence and the better correction capacity in vacuum. This work demonstrates the importance and necessity of wavefront correction in vacuum for high peak power lasers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser)
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11 pages, 3356 KiB  
Article
Temporal Contrast Enhancement Based on the Self-Diffraction Process with Different Kerr Media
by Yaping Xuan, Xiong Shen, Wenhai Liang, Peng Wang, Jun Liu and Ruxin Li
Photonics 2022, 9(10), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics9100696 - 27 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1290
Abstract
In this study, the self-diffraction (SD) process proved to be a competitive method to achieve a seed pulse with high temporal contrast in ultra-intense lasers. Several different nonlinear, transparent Kerr media including BK7 glasses, AL2O3 and CVD diamonds were compared [...] Read more.
In this study, the self-diffraction (SD) process proved to be a competitive method to achieve a seed pulse with high temporal contrast in ultra-intense lasers. Several different nonlinear, transparent Kerr media including BK7 glasses, AL2O3 and CVD diamonds were compared experimentally to obtain SD signals with high energy and high conversion efficiency. AL2O3, with a high third-order nonlinear coefficient and high laser damage threshold, was found to be the best medium to improve the conversion efficiency of SD signals. The highest first-order SD signal of 401.7 μJ was achieved, with the conversion efficiency at approximately 9.1%, when the incident pulse energy was 4.40 mJ. The temporal contrast of the obtained first-order SD signal was improved by 7 orders of magnitude to 1012. As a result, this cleaning pulse will facilitate research involving ultra-intense laser systems and high-intensity laser–matter interactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrashort Ultra-Intense (Petawatt) Laser)
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