We proposed a self-referenced technique for measuring the spatiotemporal characteristics of ultrashort pulses using the coherent diffraction imaging. This technique includes the wavelength spatial multiplexing coherent diffraction imaging measurement and the three-dimensional spatiotemporal amplitude and phase reconstruction. In experiment, we verified the feasibility of this technique by measuring a pulse from the femtosecond laser oscillator. Wavelength spatial multiplexing was realized by the combination of two-dimensional diffracted optical element and narrow-band-pass filter, and the amplitude and phase information of each wavelength was recovered by ePIE (extended Ptychographic Iterative Engine) algorithm. This technique can measure the three-dimensional spatiotemporal amplitude and phase information of ultrashort pulses with high resolution and simplicity. In the future, it is expected to be an effective method for the comprehensive monitoring of the spatiotemporal optical field of ultrashort pulse lasers, and will be helpful for the laser performance improvement.
We proposed a single-shot diagnostic for spatiotemporal laser-plasma evolution by the multi-dimensional encoding (MuDE) holography. It can achieves high and adjustable temporal resolution measurement of three-dimensional plasma distribution without delay scanning. Experimentally, we verified the feasibility of this technique, and the retrieved results of laser-plasma evolution agreed well with the direct shadow measurement. This technique is expected to provide a helpful tool for the complex spatiotemporal evolution of plasma in ICF and high energy density physics.
KEYWORDS: Crystals, Nonlinear crystals, Laser crystals, Signal to noise ratio, Modulation, Optical filters, Gadolinium, Garnet, High power lasers, Gallium
To obtain seed pulses of large energy, high contrast and broad spectral bandwidth for the high power laser system, a new cross-polarized wave (XPW) generator based on the gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG) crystal is designed. For the injected fundamental wave (FW) pulses exceeding tens of millijoule, the output XPW characteristics of conversion efficiency, spectral broadening and contrast improvement are theoretically analyzed. We also investigated the influence of spatial distribution characteristics of the injected chirped FW pulses on the output XPW. With incident FW pulses of 8 order super gaussian spatial profile for instance, conversion efficiency of ~73%, spectral broadening ratio (SBR) of ~2.7 (from 40nm to 108nm) and contrast boost by >7 orders of magnitude can be obtained. The impact of the FW spatial modulation on XPW was sensitive to the modulation depth, which is significant for spatial quality control of the laser beam in high power laser systems.
Plasma mirror is an effective approach to improve the temporal contrast of high power ultra-short laser system, while it might deteriorate the focal spot, which is reported in some experiments using plasma mirror. In order to investigate such far-field degradation by plasma mirror, we established a spatiotemporal multi-step focusing propagation algorithm based on the formula of plasma expansion and wave-front modulation model. The influence of plasma expansion time, amplitude and spatial frequency of wave-front error on focal spot degradation are quantitatively analyzed. The simulation results reveal that the far-field focal spot degradation by plasma mirror is caused by the non-uniform plasma expansion due to the wave-front error and the wave-front error with higher amplitude and lower spatial frequency has relatively greater effect on the focusing ability. From the perspective of high-contrast ultra-intense output capability, the requirement on the spatiotemporal quality of the pulse is put forward to avoid the far-field focal spot degradation when using plasma mirror in high power ultra-short laser system.
To ensure a high signal to noise contrast ratio, lots of challengeable work must be done during the construction of a petawatt level laser system. In this report, we analyse the effects on the contrast ratio by the optical element manufacture errors expressed as the peak-valley value (PV value) and the PV gradient value, the chromatic aberration and group delay in system design. Using the Fourier transformation method with the random phase attached on the laser beam in frequency domain, it is proved that for manufacture errors, PV gradient value is more tolerable than that of PV value. At the terminal end of a petawatt level laser system, there exist, in pulse compressor, spectral clip, grating manufacture errors and non-uniformity of the diffraction efficiency that will affect the final SN contrast ratio of the laser system. Since the spectral clip here is soft that can benefit the promotion of the contrast ratio. But for manufacture errors of the large size grating, when PV = 1/5 wavelength, and PV differential gradient about 1/75 wavelength per centimeter. The terminal SN contrast ratio is restrained. When focused on the target, simulation for SN contrast ratio near the focal region caused by the residual distortion is taken. Calculation shows that, for a 20 microns focal spot, to maintain the 108:1 contrast ratio across the whole focal spot, residual wavefront distortion should be compensated to PV value less than 0.2 wavelength.
Pulse time delay (PTD) and defocus are mainly introduced by transmitted-based large-aperture beam expander systems in ultrashort high power laser systems due to chromatic aberration, which can significantly reduce the focal-spot intensity by spatially enlarge the spot size as well as temporally distort the pulse profile. In this paper we investigate the chromatic aberration and measure how it deteriorate the focal spot size in SG-II 5PW ultrashort laser system. In addition, we propose and design a simple chromatic aberration pre-compensation scheme based on combination of aspherical lens and spherical mirrors. The simulation results indicate that both PTD and defocus dispersion can nearly be fully compensated by applying this compensation scheme with proper alignment in the system without introducing other kinds of wave-front aberrations.
A model is presented to analyze the effect of chromatic aberration of the spatial filter lenses on the compressed pulse duration. The parameters of the SHENGUANG (SG) II 5 PW laser system are demonstrated as examples. The numerical simulation results show that the compressed pulse duration with full aperture is increased by 3 times compared with the ideal compressed pulse duration in the case of chromatic aberration of the lenses. The result of full-aperture measurement at the SG II 5 PW laser system is in good agreement with the theoretical calculation. In the case of full-aperture measurement, the shortest compressed pulse duration is obtained by adjusting the compressor to compensate for the phase aberration introduced by the chromatic aberration of the spatial filter lenses at the SG II 5 PW laser facility. These results are helpful in finding an optimized pulse duration, considering the chromatic aberration of lenses in the femtosecond laser facility, and in obtaining a deep understanding of the effect of chromatic aberration of lenses on the pulse contrast ratio and pulse duration in ultrashort laser systems.
The SG II 5PW laser is designed as an open ultra-short high power laser facility that operates at the wavelength of 808nm. Three optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) stages are used to ensure the uncompressed pulse energy up to 260J. With a four pass zigzag compressor, the pulse width is compressed into less than 30fs and the pulse energy about 150J. By using BBO and LBO crystal, the first two OPCPA amplifiers have been accomplished this year. 35J@21fs outputs have been achieved. Since the largest size of the LBO crystal now is only about 100mm×100mm that is not enough for the needs of the third OPCPA amplifier. In our work, potassium deuterium phosphate (DKDP) as a candidate crystal has been studied theoretically and experimentally. Phase-matching parameters for various deuterium doped rate DKDP crystals are calculated. OPCPA amplifier based on 95% deuterium doped rate is designed and the output characteristics are simulated by OPA coupled wave equations. The results show that DKDP crystals with deuterium doped rate higher than 90% can be utilized in ultra-short high power laser systems that support the pulse width shorter than 30 femtoseconds. Still by estimation, when Quasi-phase-matching techniques and collinear design are used in small signal OPCPA amplification, the greatest efficiency can reach above 55%. By experiment it has proved that the output spectrum width can be more than 80nm.
A kind of diffractive optical elements (DOE) with star-ring topological structure is proposed and their focusing and imaging properties are studied in detail. The so-called star-ring topological structure denotes that a large number of pinholes distributed in many specific zone orbits. In two dimensional plane, this structure can be constructed by two constrains, one is a mapping function, which yields total potential zone orbits, corresponding to the optical path difference (OPD); the other is a switching sequence based on the given encoded seed elements and recursion relation to operate the valid zone orbits. The focusing and imaging properties of DOE with star-ring topological structure are only determined by the aperiodic sequence, and not relevant to the concrete geometry structure. In this way, we can not only complete the traditional symmetrical DOE, such as circular Dammam grating, Fresnel zone plates, photon sieves, and their derivatives, but also construct asymmetrical elements with anisotropic diffraction pattern. Similarly, free-form surface or three dimensional DOE with star-ring topological structure can be constructed by the same method proposed. In consequence of smaller size, lighter weight, more flexible design, these elements may allow for some new applications in micro and nanphotonics.
The non-collinear phase-matching in Potassium Dideuterium Phosphate (DKDP) crystal is analyzed in detail with signal pulse of center wavelength at 808 nm and pump pulse of wavelength at 526.5 nm. By numerical analysis, parametric bandwidths for various DKDP crystals of different deuteration level are presented. In particularly for DKDP crystals of 95% deuteration level, the optimal non-collinear angles, phase-matching angles, parametric bandwidths, walk-off angles, acceptance angles, efficiency coefficients, gain and gain bandwidths are provided based on the parameter concepts. Optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier based on DKDP crystal is designed and the output characteristics are simulated by OPA coupled wave equations for further discuss. It is concluded that DKDP crystals higher than 90% deuteration level can be utilized in ultra-short high power laser systems with compressed pulses broader than 30fs. The disadvantage is that the acceptance angles are small, increasing the difficulty of engineering regulation.
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