Towards manipulating relativistic laser pulses with micro-tube plasma lenses

Abstract

Efficient coupling of intense laser pulses to solid-density matter is critical to many applications including ion acceleration for cancer therapy. At relativistic intensities, the focus has been mainly on investigating various laser beams irradiating initially overdense flat interfaces with little or no control over the interaction. Here, we propose a novel approach that leverages recent advancements in 3D direct laser writing (DLW) of materials and high contrast lasers to manipulate the laser-matter interactions on the micro-scales. We demonstrate, via simulations, that usable intensities ≥1023 Wcm−2 could be achieved with current tabletop lasers coupled to micro-engineered plasma lenses. We show that these plasma optical elements act as a lens to focus laser light. These results open new paths to engineering light-matter interactions at ultra-relativistic intensities.

Enhancement of laser intensity and proton acceleration using micro-tube plasma lens targets

“…The full detail of light intensification within a MTP lens can be found elsewhere 33 . In short, a laser pulse incident on a hollow cylindrical aperture will undergo diffraction.…”

Exploring novel target structures for manipulating relativistic laser–plasma interaction

“…For instance, one can attach an array of micro-tube to a flat foil, as shown in Figure 4(a). Due to the intensification effect and the induced highly collimated electron bunches, the generation of high-energy protons and gamma rays can be greatly enhanced [8,15] . …”

“…Although the main results of our research have been previously published in letter style journals (Refs. [7,8]), here we extend the discussions to offer a more complete presentation of the salient physics. As will be shown in the following sections, the micro-cylinder targets serve to manipulate laser-electron acceleration and the micro-tube targets are dedicated to manipulating the laser intensity.…”

Radiation from laser-microplasma-waveguide interactions in the ultra-intense regime

“…The interaction of ultra-intense laser pulses with matter is entering a new era owing to the advances in laser pulse cleaning techniques [1,2] and manufacturing structured targets in micro-and nano-scale [3][4][5]. Using cross-polarized wave generation technique, laser peak-to-pedestal contrast ratios higher than 10 10 have been achieved [1], which allows for interaction with fine plasma structures without destroying the guiding features before the arrival of the intense portion of the pulse.…”

“…It has been reported experimentally that significant modifications to many physical processes, including the acceleration of particles [4,9] and secondary radiations [3,7], are induced by these guiding structures. Nevertheless, simulations have also suggested many interesting phenomenons [5,[10][11][12][13] can be achieved with the development of laser technology in the near future that may lead to diverse potential applications in fundamental science, industry, and medicine.…”