Survey of spatio-temporal couplings throughout high-power ultrashort lasers

Abstract

The investigation of spatio-temporal couplings (STCs) of broadband light beams is becoming a key topic for the optimization as well as applications of ultrashort laser systems. This calls for accurate measurements of STCs. Yet, it is only recently that such complete spatio-temporal or spatio-spectral characterization has become possible, and it has so far mostly been implemented at the output of the laser systems, where experiments take place. In this survey, we present for the first time STC measurements at different stages of a collection of high-power ultrashort laser systems, all based on the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technique, but with very different output characteristics. This measurement campaign reveals spatio-temporal effects with various sources, and motivates the expanded use of STC characterization throughout CPA laser chains, as well as in a wider range of types of ultrafast laser systems. In this way knowledge will be gained not only about potential defects, but also about the fundamental dynamics and operating regimes of advanced ultrashort laser systems.

Further Development of the Short‐Pulse Petawatt Laser: Trends, Technologies, and Bottlenecks

“…[ 329 ] Besides, some other forms of the spatiotemporal/‐spectral coupling distortion throughout a CPA or OPCPA short‐pulse TW/PW laser recently have been studied and introduced. [ 330–333 ] Fortunately, up to now, lots of spatiotemporal measurement methods have been invented by many groups, [ 334–354 ] especially single‐shot ones, [ 355–358 ] which can be directly applied to completely reconstruct the optical field in space–time and then to observe this complex distortion.…”

OCTOPOD: single-bunch tomography for angular-spectral characterization of laser-driven protons

“…For both LPA electrons and protons, such automated feedback loops have successfully been implemented recently [ 43 , 44 ] . The OCTOPOD will also open up new possibilities in investigating the spatio-temporal coupling effect in the laser pulse [ 45 ] affecting acceleration performance and angular proton emission patterns. Last but not least, a dedicated investigation of the spatial resolution limits as also affected by pinhole arrays might qualify the OCTOPOD as a viable detector for proton radiography studies [ 46 ] .…”

Fast laser field reconstruction method based on a Gerchberg–Saxton algorithm with mode decomposition

“…In addition, spatio-temporal coupling (STC) of phase aberrations [7,8] reduce the quality of ultra-short high intensity laser pulses by increasing their duration and decreasing their peak intensity [8][9][10][11]. Due to the nonlinear nature of the interaction of high intensity lasers with plasmas, these imperfections can decrease the laser peak intensity in the focal plane [12] and degrade its symmetry [13], leading to lower performances e.g.…”