Abstract: Ultra-high intensity lasers have been used to produce a variety of intense radiation sources through the irradiation of nanostructured targets, including high-brightness x-ray sources, energetic collimated sources of ion and electron beams, and quasi-monoenergetic pulses of neutrons. However, these experiments have previously been constrained to the use of multi-cycle laser pulse drivers with duration of ~40-50 fs. At Colorado State University, we are developing a few-cycle laser beamline for the irradiation of nanostructured solid targets at relativistic intensities. This laser will delivery pulses of 5 fs duration produced through spectral broadening in a hollow-core optical fiber filled with noble gas. This pulse will create a dramatically different plasma environment than that in typical solid target laser-plasma experiments.
Simulations of this regime show that electrons will be accelerated un-obstructed into single nano-bunches by electric fields up to an order of magnitude larger than those of the laser itself, producing collimated attosecond bursts of intense x-ray and gamma ray radiation. The interaction will also produce a volume of extremely hot-plasma in which heavy atoms will be stripped of most of their electrons (producing charge states such as Au+70), potentially leading to intense beams of highly charged ions. Moreover, the ultrashort pulse duration will allow us to reach relativistic intensities up to 1 x 1020 W/cm2 with only modest laser pulse energies that compact lasers can generate at very high repetition rates. This strategy will open a path towards relativistic solid target experiments at kHz repetition rate, greatly increasing the possibility of translating fundamental research findings into applications.

Adviser: Jorge Rocca
Co-Adviser: N/A
Non-ECE Member: Dylan Yost, Physics
Member 3: Carmen Menoni, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Addional Members: Jesse Wilson, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Publications:
Y. Wang, H. Chi, C. Baumgarten, K. Dehne, A. R. Meadows, A. Davenport, G. Murray, B. A. Reagan, C. S. Menoni, J. J. Rocca. 1.1 J Yb:YAG Picosecond Laser at 1 kHz Repetition Rate. Optics Letters, 45: 6615 (2020).

H. Wang, A. Meadows, E. Jankowska, B. A. Reagan, C. S. Menoni, J. J. Rocca. Laser Induced Damage in Coatings for Yb:YAG Room Temperature and Cryogenic Active Mirror Amplifiers. Optics Letters, 45: 4476 (2020).

H. Chi, C. M. Baumgarten, E. Jankowska, K. A. Dehne, G. Murray, A. R. Meadows, M. Berrill, B. A. Reagan, and J. J. Rocca. Thermal Behavior Characterization of a kW-Power Level Cryogenically-Cooled Yb:YAG Active Mirror Laser Amplifier. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 36: 1084 (2019).

Program of Study:
ECE503
ECE504
ECE506
ECE507
ECE604
ECE795
ECE799
N/A