283 / 2023-04-25 15:04:46

Ultrahigh Intensity CPA Lasers: Development and Applications

Based on the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique, ultrashort high power lasers have been actively developed around the world. At Center for Relativistic Laser Science (CoReLS), femtosecond petawatt lasers have been developed for the investigations of strong field physics. We have developed a 20 fs, 4 PW laser with high temporal contrast and repetition rate of 0.1 Hz at CoReLS [1]. The performance of the PW laser has been examined, especially in the maximum achievable laser intensity – one of the most critical laser parameters determining the regime of laser-matter interactions. After correcting the wavefront of the multi-PW laser with two sets of deformable mirrors and tightly focusing with an off-axis parabola of f/1.1, we were able to achieve the record-breaking laser intensity over 10²³ W/cm² [2]. The multi-PW laser has been applied for the exploration of strong field physics; we have investigated the production of high energy protons/ions and secondary radiations [3], the acceleration of electrons to multi-GeV energy, and strong field quantum electrodynamics.

 

1. J. H. Sung et al., “4.2 PW, 20 fs Ti:Sapphire Laser at 0.1 Hz,” Opt. Lett. 42, 2058 (2017).


2. J. W. Yoon et al., “Realization of laser intensity over 10²³ W/cm²,” Optica 8, 630 (2021).


3. Y. Shou et al., Brilliant femtosecond-laser-driven hard X-ray flashes from carbon nanotube plasma,”

Nature Photonics 17, 137 (2023). “