Two-Color Terawatt Laser System For High-Intensity Laser-Plasma Experiments

We report a two-color terawatt laser system for use in controlling laser-plasma instabilities. The system includes a commercial 45 TW Ti:Sapphire laser system at 800 nm, temporally synchronized with a 1 TW CPA Raman-Ti:Sapphire hybrid laser centered at 873nm that we designed and built to complement the 800 nm system. The two-color system will be used to seed, enhance, suppress, or otherwise control a variety of instabilities which arise in laser-plasma interactions.Physic

LWFA With Low Energy Raman Seeded Pulses

Analytical and numerical calculations of plasma wakefield excitation and particle acceleration by Raman seeded laser pulse in self-modulation regime are presented. We derive energy threshold for self-modulation of diffraction-limited pulses. The parameter range where the Raman seeded amplitude plays an important role is investigated. We show that the seeded amplitude provides a coherent control mechanism for the phase of the wakefield wave. We show that with the use of Raman seed self-modulated wakefield acceleration is achievable for the pulses of intensities much lower than those typically used in the experiments. In particular, our 2D particle-in-cell simulations show that 30 mJ pulse combined with Raman seeded pulse, which is 1% in intensity of the main pulse is capable of generating similar to1 nC of relativistic electrons.Physic

Global Optimization Of Quasi-Monoenergetic Electron Beams From Laser Wakefield Accelerators

We globally optimize a terawatt-laser-driven wakefield accelerator by systematically varying laser and target parameters to achieve 100 MeV electrons, 10% energy spread, 100 pC charge, 4 mrad divergence and 10 mrad pointing fluctuation with similar to 100% reproducibility, thereby meeting conditions for producing similar to 10(6) 200 keV X-ray photons/pulse by inverse Compton scatter.Physic

Analytic height correlation function of rough surfaces derived from light scattering

We derive an analytic expression for the height correlation function of a rough surface based on the inverse wave scattering method of Kirchhoff theory. The expression directly relates the height correlation function to diffuse scattered intensity along a linear path at fixed polar angle. We test the solution by measuring the angular distribution of light scattered from rough silicon surfaces, and comparing extracted height correlation functions to those derived from atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results agree closely with AFM over a wider range of roughness parameters than previous formulations of the inverse scattering problem, while relying less on large-angle scatter data. Our expression thus provides an accurate analytical equation for the height correlation function of a wide range of surfaces based on measurements using a simple, fast experimental procedure.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Single-Shot Visualization Of Evolving Laser- Or Beam-Driven Plasma Wakefield Accelerators

We introduce Frequency-Domain Tomography (FDT) for visualizing sub-ps evolution of light-speed refractive index structures in a single shot. As a prototype demonstration, we produce single-shot tomographic movies of self-focusing, filamenting laser pulses propagating in a transparent Kerr medium. We then discuss how to adapt FDT to visualize evolving laser-or beam-driven plasma wakefields of current interest to the advanced accelerator community. For short (L similar to 1 cm), dense (n(e) similar to 10(19) cm(-3)) plasmas, the key challenge is broadening probe bandwidth sufficiently to resolve plasma-wavelength-size structures. For long (L similar to 10 to 100 cm), tenuous (n(e) similar to 10(17) cm(-3)) plasmas, probe diffraction from the evolving wake becomes the key challenge. We propose and analyze solutions to these challenges.Physic

Frequency-Domain Streak Camera And Tomography For Ultrafast Imaging Of Evolving And Channeled Plasma Accelerator Structures

We demonstrate a prototype Frequency Domain Streak Camera (FDSC) that can capture the picosecond time evolution of the plasma accelerator structure in a single shot. In our prototype Frequency-Domain Streak Camera, a probe pulse propagates obliquely to a sub-picosecond pump pulse that creates an evolving nonlinear index >bubble> in fused silica glass, supplementing a conventional Frequency Domain Holographic (FDH) probe-reference pair that co-propagates with the >bubble>. Frequency Domain Tomography (FDT) generalizes Frequency-Domain Streak Camera by probing the >bubble> from multiple angles and reconstructing its morphology and evolution using algorithms similar to those used in medical CAT scans. Multiplexing methods (Temporal Multiplexing and Angular Multiplexing) improve data storage and processing capability, demonstrating a compact Frequency Domain Tomography system with a single spectrometer.Physic

Development Of Third Harmonic Generation As A Short Pulse Probe Of Shock Heated Material

We are studying high-pressure laser produced shock waves in silicon (100). To examine the material dynamics, we are performing pump-probe style experiments utilizing 600 ps and 40 fs laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. Two-dimensional interferometry reveals information about the shock breakout, while third harmonic light generated at the rear surface is used to infer the crystalline state of the material as a function of time. Sustained third harmonic generation (THG) during a similar to 100 kbar shock breakout indicate that the rear surface remains crystalline for at least 3 ns. However, a decrease in THG during a similar to 300 kbar shock breakout suggests a different behavior, which could include a change in crystalline structure.Mechanical Engineerin