Efficient guiding and focusing of intense laser pulse using periodic thin slits

Slits have been widely used in laser-plasma interactions as plasma optical components for generating high-harmonic light and controlling laser-driven particle beams.Here,we propose and demonstrate that periodic thin slits can be regarded as a new breed of optical elements for efficient focusing and guiding of intense laser pulse.The fundamental physics of intense laser interaction with thin slits is studied,and it is revealed that relativistic effects can lead to enhanced laser focusing far beyond the pure diffractive focusing regime.In addition,the interaction of an intense laser pulse with periodic thin slits makes it feasible to achieve multifold enhancement in both laser intensity and energy transfer efficiency compared with conventional waveguides.These results provide a novel method for manipulating ultra-intense laser pulses and should be of interest for many laser-based applications.

Elliptically polarized high-order harmonic generation of Ar atom in an intense laser field

High-order harmonic generation(HHG) of Ar atom in an elliptically polarized intense laser field is experimentally investigated in this work.Interestingly,the anomalous ellipticity dependence on the laser ellipticity(ε) in the lower-order harmonics is observed,specifically in the 13rd-order,which displays a maximal harmonic intensity at ε ≈ 0.1,rather than at ε = 0 as expected.This contradicts the general trend of harmonic yield,which typically decreases with the increase of laser ellipticity.In this study,we attribute this phenomenon to the disruption of the symmetry of the wave function by the Coulomb effect,leading to the generation of a harmonic with high ellipticity.This finding provides valuable insights into the behavior of elliptically polarized harmonics and opens up a potential way for exploring new applications in ultrafast spectroscopy and light–matter interactions.

Intense white laser of high spectral flatness via optical-damage-free water–lithium niobate module

A supercontinuum white laser with ultrabroad bandwidth,intense pulse energy,and high spectral flatness can be accomplished via synergic action of third-order nonlinearity(3rd-NL)and second-order nonlinearity.In this work,we employ an intense Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser with a pulse duration of 50 fs and pulse energy up to 4 mJ to ignite the supercontinuum white laser.Remarkably,we use water instead of the usual solid materials as the 3rd-NL medium exhibiting both strong self-phase modulation and stimulated Raman scattering effect to create a supercontinuum laser with significantly broadened bandwidth and avoid laser damage and destruction.Then the supercontinuum laser is injected into a water-embedded chirped periodically poled lithium niobate crystal that enables broadband and high-efficiency second-harmonic generation.The output white laser has a 10 dB bandwidth encompassing 413 to 907 nm,more than one octave,and a pulse energy of 0.6 mJ.This methodology would open up an efficient route to creating a long-lived,high-stability,and inexpensive white laser with intense pulse energy,high spectral flatness,and ultrabroad bandwidth for application to various areas of basic science and high technology.

Single-wavelength size focusing of ultra-intense ultrashort lasers with rotational hyperbolic mirrors

Compressing all the energy of a laser pulse into a spatiotemporal focal cube edged by the laser center wavelength will realize the highest intensity of an ultra-intense ultrashort laser,which is called theλ^(3) regime or theλ^(3) laser.Herein,we introduced a rotational hyperbolic mirror—an important rotational conic section mirror with two foci—that is used as a secondary focusing mirror after a rotational parabolic mirror to reduce the focal spot size from several wavelengths to a single wavelength by significantly increasing the focusing angular aperture.Compared with the rotational ellipsoidal mirror,the first focal spot with a high intensity,as well as some unwanted strong-field effects,is avoided.The optimal focusing condition of this method is presented and the enhanced tight focusing for a femtosecond petawatt laser and theλ3 laser is numerically simulated,which can enhance the focused intensities of ultra-intense ultrashort lasers for laser physics.

Neutral Dissociation of Superexcited Nitric Oxide Induced by Intense Laser Fields

Superexcited states of NO molecule and their neutral dissociation processes have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Neutral excited N^＊ and O^＊ atoms are detected by fluorescence spectroscopy for the NO molecule upon interaction with 800 nm intense laser radiation of duration 60 fs and intensity 0.2 PW/cm^2. Intense laser pulse causes neutral dissociation of superexcited NO molecule by way of multiphoton excitation, which is equivalent to single photon excitation in the extreme-ultraviolet region by synchrotron radiation. Potential energy curves （PECs） are also built using the calculated superexcited state of NO^＋. In light of the PECs, direct dissociation and pre-dissociation mechanisms are proposed respectively for the neutral dissociation leading to excited fragments N^＊ and O^＊.

Theoretical study of the influence of intense femtosecond laser field on the evolution of the wave packet and the population of NaRb molecule

Employing the two-state model and the time-dependent wave packet method, we have investigated the influences of the parameters of the intense femtosecond laser field on the evolution of the wave packet, as well as the population of ground and double-minimum electronic states of the NaRb molecule. For the different laser wavelengths, the evolution of the wave packet of 6{ }^1／Sigma ^ ＋ state with time and internuclear distance is different, and the different laser intensity brings different influences on the population of the electronic states of the NaRb molecule. One can control the evolutions of wave packet and the population in each state by varying the laser parameters appropriately, which will be a benefit for the light manipulation of atomic and molecular processes.

Visualizing the melting processes in ultrashort intense laser triggered gold mesh with high energy electron radiography

High-energy electron radiography(HEER)is a promising diagnostic tool for high-energy-density physics,as an alternative to tools such as X/γ-ray shadowgraphy and high-energy proton radiography.Impressive progress has been made in the development and application ofHEER in the past fewyears,and its potential for high-resolution imaging of static opaque objects has been proved.In this study,by taking advantage of the short pulse duration and tunable time structure of high-energy electron probes,time-resolved imaging measurements of high-energy-density gold irradiated by ultrashort intense laser pulses are performed.Phenomena at different time scales frompicoseconds to microseconds are observed,thus proving the feasibility of this technique for imaging of static and dynamic objects.

The dissociation pathways of N_2^+ in intense femtosecond laser fields

Using a neutral N2 beam as target, this paper studies the dissociation of N2^＋ in intense femtosecond laser fields （45 fs, ～ 1 × 10^16 W/cm^2） at the laser wavelength of 800 nm based on the time-of-flight mass spectra of N＋ fragment ions. The angular distributions of N^＋ and the laser power dependence of N^＋ yielded from different dissociation pathways show that the dissociation mechanisms mainly proceed through the couplings between the metastable states （A, B and C） and the upper excited states of N^＋.A coupling model of light-dressed potential energy curves of N2^＋ is used to interpret the kinetic energy release of N^＋.

Photodissociation of Cycloketones by Ultraintense Femtosecond Laser Pulses

Photodissociation of cyclopentanone (C5H8O) and cyclohexanone (C6H10O) was studied with 800nm, 50fs laser pulse at intensities of 5.0 - 13.0x10(13) W/cm(2). A time of flight mass spectrometer was employed to detect the ion signals. Parent ions dominated at lower laser intensities. Fragmentation of the parent ions increases with increasing laser intensity and molecular size. The fragmentation mechanism was discussed.

High-energy-density electron beam generation in ultra intense laser-plasma interaction

By using a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation,we demonstrate a scheme for highenergy-density electron beam generation by irradiating an ultra intense laser pulse onto an aluminum（Al） target.With the laser having a peak intensity of 4×10^23W cm^-2,a high quality electron beam with a maximum density of 117 nc and a kinetic energy density up to8.79×10^18J m^-3 is generated.The temperature of the electron beam can be 416 Me V,and the beam divergence is only 7.25°.As the laser peak intensity increases（e.g.,1024 W cm^-2）,both the beam energy density（3.56×10^19J m^-3） and the temperature（545 Me V） are increased,and the beam collimation is well controlled.The maximum density of the electron beam can even reach 180 nc.Such beams should have potential applications in the areas of antiparticle generation,laboratory astrophysics,etc.

Nuclear fusion from Coulomb explosions of deuterated methane clusters subjected to ultraintense femtosecond laser pulses

This paper reports that Coulomb explosions taken place in the experiment of heteronuclear deuterated methane clusters （（CD4）n） in a gas jet subjected to intense femtoseeond laser pulses （170 mJ, 70 fs） have led to table-top laser driven DD nuclear fusion. The clusters produced in supersonic expansion had an average size of about 5 nm in radius and the laser intensity used was 3 × 10^17 W/cm^2.The measured maximum and average energies of deuterons produced in the laser-cluster interaction were 60 and 13.5 keV, respectively. Prom DD collisions of energetic deuterons, a yield of 2.5（±0.4） × 10^4 fusion neutrons of 2.45 MeV per shot was realized, giving rise to a neutron production efficiency of about 1.5 × 10^5 per joule of incident laser pulse energy. Theoretical calculations were performed and a fairly good agreement of the calculated neutron yield with that obtained from the present experiment was found.

Study on the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with nanometre-sized hydrogen clusters

The interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with hydrogen clusters has been experimentally studied. The hydrogen clusters were produced from expansion of high-pressure hydrogen gas （backed up to 8×10^6Pa） into vacuum through a conical nozzle cryogenically cooled by liquid nitrogen. The average size of hydrogen clusters was estimated by Rayleigh scattering measurement and the maximum proton energy of up to 4.2keV has been obtained from the Coulomb explosion of hydrogen clusters under 2 × 10^16W/cm^2 laser irradiation. Dependence of the maximum proton energy on cluster size and laser intensity was investigated, indicating the correlation between the laser intensity and the cluster size. The maximum proton energy is found to be directly proportional to the laser intensity, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction.

Observation of the optical X2Σg+–A2Πu coupling in N2+ lasing induced by intense laser field

We propose a simple pump-coupling-seed scheme to examine the optical X^2Σg^+–A^2Πu coupling in N2^+ lasing. We produce the N2^+ lasing at 391 nm, corresponding to the B^2Σu^+(v = 0)–X^2Σg+(v = 0) transition, by externally seeding the N^2+ gain medium prepared by irradiation of N2 with an intense pump pulse. We then adopt a weak coupling pulse in between the pump and seed pulses, and show that the intensity of the 391-nm lasing can be efficiently modulated by varying the polarization direction of the coupling pulse with respect to that of the pump pulse. It is found that when the polarization directions of the pump and coupling pulses are perpendicular, the 391-nm lasing intensity is more sensitive to the coupling laser energy, which reflects the inherent nature of the perpendicular X^2+Σg^–A^2Πu transition.

Multiphoton and tunneling ionization of atoms in an intense laser field

We study the ionization probabilities of atoms by a short laser pulse with three different theoretical methods, i.e., the numerical solution of the time-dependent SchrSdinger equation （TDSE）, the Perelomov-Popov Terent＇ev （PPT） theory, and the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov （ADK） theory. Our results show that laser intensity dependent ionization probabilities of several atoms （i.e., H, He, and Ne） obtained from the PPT theory accord quite well with the TDSE results both in the multiphoton and tunneling ionization regimes, while the ADK results fit well to the TDSE data only in the tunneling ionization regime. Our calculations also show that laser intensity dependent ionization probabilities of a H atom at three different laser wavelengths of 600 nm, 800 nm, and 1200 nm obtained from the PPT theory are also in good agreement with those from the TDSE, while the ADK theory fails to give the wavelength dependence of ionization probability. Only when the laser wavelength is long enough, will the results of ADK be close to those of TDSE.

High power terahertz pulses generated in intense laser-plasma interactions

Terahertz （THz） radiation has attracted much attention due to its wide potential applications. Though radiation can be generated with various ways, it is still a big challenge to obtain strong tabletop sources. Plasma, with the advantage of no damage limit, is a promising medium to generate strong THz radiation. This review reports recent advances on strong THz radiation generation from low-density gases and high-density solid targets at different laser intensities.

Nonlinear branched flow of intense laser light in randomly uneven media

Branched flow is an interesting phenomenon that can occur in diverse systems.It is usually linear in the sense that the flow does not alter the properties of the medium.Branched flow of light on thin films has recently been discovered.It is therefore of interest to know whether nonlinear light branching can also occur.Here,using particle-in-cell simulations,we find that in the case of an intense laser propagating through a randomly uneven medium,cascading local photoionization by the incident laser,together with the response of freed electrons in the strong laser fields,triggers space–time-dependent optical unevenness.The resulting branching pattern depends dramatically on the laser intensity.That is,the branching here is distinct from the existing linear ones.The observed branching properties agree well with theoretical analyses based on the Helmholtz equation.Nonlinear branched propagation of intense lasers potentially opens up a new area for laser–matter interaction and may be relevant to other branching phenomena of a nonlinear nature.

Electron Acceleration in the Cone-shaped Extra-intense Stationary Laser Field

A technique of electron acceleration in the cone shaped stationary laser field is proposed. An electron acceleration in this laser is studied, which shows that there is no electron bunching but there exists electron capture in this laser field.

Quantum Path Selection and Isolated-Attosecond-Pulse Generation of H2+ with an Intense Laser Pulse and a Static Field

We theoretically investigate the high-order-harmonic generation from the H2^＋ molecular ion exposed to the combi- nation of an intense trapezoidal laser and a static field. The results show that the harmonic spectrum is obviously extended and the short quantum path is selected to contribute to the spectrum, because the corresponding long path is seriously suppressed. Then the combined Coulomb and laser field potentials and the time-dependent electron wave packet distributions are applied to illustrate the physical mechanism of high-order harmonic gen- eration. Finally, by adjusting the intensity of the static field and superposing a properly selected range of the HHG spectrum, a 90-as isolated attosecond pulse is straightforwardly obtained.

Controlling Rydberg excitation process with shaped intense ultrashort laser pulses

We perform a theoretical investigation on the control over the atomic excitation of Rydberg states with shaped intense ultrashort laser pulses. By numerically solving the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation（TDSE）, we systematically study the dependence of the population of the Rydberg states on the π phase step position in the frequency spectra of the laser pulse for different intensities, central wavelengths and pulse durations. Our results show that the Rydberg excitation process can be effectively modulated using shaped intense laser pulses with the laser intensity as high as 1 × 1014 W/cm2. Our work also have benefit to the future investigation to find out the dominant mechanism behind the excitation of Rydberg states in strong laser fields.

Resolving multi-orbital effects on high harmonic generation from aligned N2 molecules in linearly and elliptically polarized intense laser fields

We perform an experimental study of the multi-orbital effect on the high-order harmonic generation(HHG) from aligned N_2 molecules in both linearly and elliptically polarized intense laser fields.Measured by a home-built extreme ultraviolet(XUV) flat grating spectrometer with the pump-probe method, the angular distributions of different orders of HHG are obtained, which show distinctive behaviors for harmonics in the plateau and the cut-off regions.The ellipticity dependence of HHG is investigated by aligning the molecular axis parallel or perpendicular to the laser polarization.Our results indicate that both the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO) as well as the lower one(HOMO-1) contribute to the HHG of N2 molecules, in either linearly or elliptically polarized intense laser field.The study paves the way for understanding the ultrafast electron dynamics of molecules exposed to an intense laser field.