Speaker
Description
Plasma-based optics provide high damage thresholds, making them well suited for controlling intense laser light in high-energy physics and laser fusion applications. By relying on free electrons, plasma optics can withstand intensities beyond the limits of solid optics. A laser-induced plasma grating is one such plasma optic that can diffract a laser beam with on-target intensities exceeding $ 10^{14}\text{ W/cm}^2$. Plasma gratings can also operate at high repetition rates to support high average-power lasers, and the plasma photonic structures are recreated at the repetition rate of the generating laser.
We experimentally generate a volumetric Bragg plasma grating using a Ti:sapphire laser (25 fs, $\lambda_0$ = 800 nm , 1 kHz) through the field ionization of two pump beams that are temporally and spatially overlapped in CO$_2$ gas. A periodic pattern of plasma and neutral gas, formed by their interference, is holographically imprinted in the medium to diffract a third signal beam incident at the Bragg angle. The signal beam undergoes Bragg diffraction, and the diffracted signal strength is measured to quantify the diffraction efficiency. The stability of the plasma grating at 1 kHz is evaluated by measuring the diffracted signal strength over one hour of continuous operation. We also characterize the grating lifetime to determine how long the grating structures persist, as well as the spatial profile and dispersive properties of the diffracted signal beam.
| Working group | WG6 |
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