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Title: Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses

Abstract

An ideal plasma lens can provide the focusing power of a small f-number, solid-state focusing optic at a fraction of the diameter. An ideal plasma lens, however, relies on a steady-state, linear laser pulse-plasma interaction. Ultrashort multi-petawatt (MPW) pulses possess broad bandwidths and extreme intensities, and, as a result, their interaction with the plasma lens is neither steady state nor linear. Here, we examine nonlinear and time-dependent modifications to plasma lens focusing, and show that these result in chromatic and phase aberrations and amplitude distortion. We find that a plasma lens can provide enhanced focusing for 30 fs pulses with peak power up to ∼1 PW. The performance degrades through the MPW regime, until finally a focusing penalty is incurred at ∼10 PW.

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC 20375-5346 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22489946
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 22; Journal Issue: 12; Other Information: (c) 2015 U.S. Government; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; ELECTROMAGNETIC LENSES; FOCUSING; INTERACTIONS; LASERS; NONLINEAR PROBLEMS; PEAK LOAD; PETAWATT POWER RANGE; PLASMA; PULSES; STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS; TIME DEPENDENCE

Citation Formats

Palastro, J. P., Gordon, D., Hafizi, B., Johnson, L. A., Peñano, J., Hubbard, R. F., Helle, M., and Kaganovich, D. Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4936286.
Palastro, J. P., Gordon, D., Hafizi, B., Johnson, L. A., Peñano, J., Hubbard, R. F., Helle, M., & Kaganovich, D. Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936286
Palastro, J. P., Gordon, D., Hafizi, B., Johnson, L. A., Peñano, J., Hubbard, R. F., Helle, M., and Kaganovich, D. 2015. "Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4936286.
@article{osti_22489946,
title = {Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses},
author = {Palastro, J. P. and Gordon, D. and Hafizi, B. and Johnson, L. A. and Peñano, J. and Hubbard, R. F. and Helle, M. and Kaganovich, D.},
abstractNote = {An ideal plasma lens can provide the focusing power of a small f-number, solid-state focusing optic at a fraction of the diameter. An ideal plasma lens, however, relies on a steady-state, linear laser pulse-plasma interaction. Ultrashort multi-petawatt (MPW) pulses possess broad bandwidths and extreme intensities, and, as a result, their interaction with the plasma lens is neither steady state nor linear. Here, we examine nonlinear and time-dependent modifications to plasma lens focusing, and show that these result in chromatic and phase aberrations and amplitude distortion. We find that a plasma lens can provide enhanced focusing for 30 fs pulses with peak power up to ∼1 PW. The performance degrades through the MPW regime, until finally a focusing penalty is incurred at ∼10 PW.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4936286},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22489946}, journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
issn = {1070-664X},
number = 12,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2015},
month = {Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2015}
}