A new method for compressing laser pulses to ultrahigh powers based on spatially varying dispersion of an inhomogeneous plasma. The research is published in the journal Nature Photonics.
ABSTRACT
We propose a new method of compressing laser pulses to ultrahigh powers based on spatially varying dispersion of an inhomogeneous plasma. As the density increases longitudinally, high-frequency photons at the leading part of the laser pulse penetrate more deeply into the plasma region than lower-frequency photons, resulting in pulse compression in a similar way to that by a chirped mirror. Proof-of-principle simulations performed using particle-in-cell simulation codes predict compression of a 2.35 ps laser pulse to 10.3 fs—a ratio of 225. As plasma is robust and resistant to damage at high intensities—unlike solid-state gratings commonly used in chirped-pulse amplification—the method could be used as a compressor to reach exawatt or zettawatt peak powers.
