Spectral broadening of 112 mJ, 1.3 ps pulses at 5 kHz in a LG10 multipass cell with compressibility to 37 fs.

The first-order helical Laguerre-Gaussian mode (also called donut mode) is used to improve the energy throughput of nonlinear spectral broadening in gas-filled multipass cells. The method proposed in this Letter enables, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the nonlinear spectral broadening of pulses with energies beyond 100 mJ and is suitable for an average power of more than 500 W while conserving an excellent spatio-spectral homogeneity of ∼98% and a Gaussian-like focus profile. Additionally compressibility from 1.3 ps to 37 fs is demonstrated.

Radiation protection modelling for 2.5 Petawatt-laser production of ultrashort x-ray, proton and ion bunches: Monte Carlo model of the Munich CALA facility.

The 'Centre for Advanced Laser Applications' (CALA) is a new research institute for laser-based acceleration of electron beams for brilliant x-ray generation, laser-driven sub-nanosecond bunches of protons and heavy ions for biomedical applications like imaging and tumour therapy as well as for nuclear and high-field physics.The radiation sources emerging from experiments using the up to 2.5 petawatt laser pulses with 25 femtosecond duration will be mixed particle-species of high intensity, high energy and pulsed, thus posing new challenges compared to conventional radiation protection. Such worldwide pioneering laser experiments result in source characteristics that require careful a-priori radiation safety simulations.The FLUKA Monte-Carlo code was used to model the five CALA experimental caves, including the corridors, halls and air spaces surrounding the caves. Beams of electrons (<5 GeV), protons (<200 MeV),12C (<400MeV/u) and197Au (<10MeV/u) ions were simulated using spectra, divergences and bunch-charges based on expectations from recent scientific progress.Simulated dose rates locally can exceed 1.5 kSv h-1inside beam dumps. Vacuum pipes in the cave walls for laser transport and extraction channels for the generated x-rays result in small dose leakage to neighboring areas. Secondary neutrons contribute to most of the prompt dose rate outside caves into which the beam is delivered. This secondary radiation component causes non-negligible dose rates to occur behind walls to which large fluences of secondary particles are directed.By employing adequate beam dumps matched to beam-divergence, magnets, passive shielding and laser pulse repetition limits, average dose rates in- and outside the experimental building stay below design specifications (<0.5µSv h-1) for unclassified areas,<2.5µSv h-1for supervised areas,<7.5µSv h-1maximum local dose rate) and regulatory limits (<1mSv a-1for unclassified areas).

On-target temporal characterization of optical pulses at relativistic intensity.

High-field experiments are very sensitive to the exact value of the peak intensity of an optical pulse due to the nonlinearity of the underlying processes. Therefore, precise knowledge of the pulse intensity, which is mainly limited by the accuracy of the temporal characterization, is a key prerequisite for the correct interpretation of experimental data. While the detection of energy and spatial profile is well established, the unambiguous temporal characterization of intense optical pulses, another important parameter required for intensity evaluation, remains a challenge, especially at relativistic intensities and a few-cycle pulse duration. Here, we report on the progress in the temporal characterization of intense laser pulses and present the relativistic surface second harmonic generation dispersion scan (RSSHG-D-scan)-a new approach allowing direct on-target temporal characterization of high-energy, few-cycle optical pulses at relativistic intensity.

I-BEAT: Ultrasonic method for online measurement of the energy distribution of a single ion bunch.

The shape of a wave carries all information about the spatial and temporal structure of its source, given that the medium and its properties are known. Most modern imaging methods seek to utilize this nature of waves originating from Huygens' principle. We discuss the retrieval of the complete kinetic energy distribution from the acoustic trace that is recorded when a short ion bunch deposits its energy in water. This novel method, which we refer to as Ion-Bunch Energy Acoustic Tracing (I-BEAT), is a refinement of the ionoacoustic approach. With its capability of completely monitoring a single, focused proton bunch with prompt readout and high repetition rate, I-BEAT is a promising approach to meet future requirements of experiments and applications in the field of laser-based ion acceleration. We demonstrate its functionality at two laser-driven ion sources for quantitative online determination of the kinetic energy distribution in the focus of single proton bunches.

Calibration and cross-laboratory implementation of scintillating screens for electron bunch charge determination.

We revise the calibration of scintillating screens commonly used to detect relativistic electron beams with low average current, e.g., from laser-plasma accelerators, based on new and expanded measurements that include higher charge density and different types of screens than previous work [Buck et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 033301 (2010)]. Electron peak charge densities up to 10 nC/mm2 were provided by focused picosecond-long electron beams delivered by the Electron Linac for beams with high Brilliance and low Emittance (ELBE) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. At low charge densities, a linear scintillation response was found, followed by the onset of saturation in the range of nC/mm2. The absolute calibration factor (photons/sr/pC) in this linear regime was measured to be almost a factor of 2 lower than that reported by Buck et al. retrospectively implying a higher charge in the charge measurements performed with the former calibration. A good agreement was found with the results provided by Glinec et al. [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 103301 (2006)]. Furthermore long-term irradiation tests with an integrated dose of approximately 50 nC/mm2 indicate a significant decrease of the scintillation efficiency over time. Finally, in order to enable the transfer of the absolute calibration between laboratories, a new constant reference light source has been developed.

Generation of multi-octave spanning high-energy pulses by cascaded nonlinear processes in BBO.

We present the generation of optical pulses with a spectral range of 500-2400 nm and energies up to 10 µJ at 1 kHz repetition rate by cascaded second-order nonlinear interaction of few-cycle pulses in beta-barium borate (BBO). Numerical simulations with a 1D+time split-step model are performed to explain the experimental findings. The large bandwidth and smooth spectral amplitude of the resulting pulses make them an ideal seed for ultra-broadband optical parametric chirped pulse amplification and an attractive source for spectroscopic applications.

Experimental and theoretical investigation of timing jitter inside a stretcher-compressor setup.

In an optically synchronized short-pulse optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) system, we observe a few-100 fs-scale timing jitter. With an active timing stabilization system slow fluctuations are removed and the timing jitter can be reduced to 100 fs standard deviation (Std). As the main source for the timing fluctuations we could identify air turbulence in the stretcher-compressor setup inside the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) pump chain. This observation is supported by theoretical investigation of group delay changes for angular deviations occurring between the parallel gratings of a compressor or stretcher, as they can be introduced by air turbulence.

Broadband amplification by picosecond OPCPA in DKDP pumped at 515 nm.

On the quest towards reaching petawatt-scale peak power light pulses with few-cycle duration, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) pumped on a time scale of a few picoseconds represents a very promising route. Here we present an experimental demonstration of few-ps OPCPA in DKDP, in order to experimentally verify the feasibility of the scheme. Broadband amplification was observed in the wavelength range of 830-1310 nm. The amplified spectrum supports two optical cycle pulses, at a central wavelength of ~920 nm, with a pulse duration of 6.1 fs (FWHM). The comparison of the experimental results with our numerical calculations of the OPCPA process showed good agreement. These findings confirm the reliability of our theoretical modelling, in particular with respect to the design for further amplification stages, scaling the output peak powers to the petawatt scale.

High energy picosecond Yb:YAG CPA system at 10 Hz repetition rate for pumping optical parametric amplifiers.

We present a chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system based on diode-pumped Yb:YAG. The stretched ns-pulses are amplified and have been compressed to less than 900 fs with an energy of 200 mJ and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. This system is optically synchronized with a broadband seed laser and therefore ideally suited for pumping optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) stages on a ps-timescale.

Simulations of petawatt-class few-cycle optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification, including nonlinear refractive index effects.

We present three-dimensional simulations of optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification stages for a few-cycle petawatt-class laser. The simulations take into account the effects of depletion, diffraction, walk-off, quantum noise, and the nonlinear refractive index (n(2)). In the absence of n(2) effects, we show these stages can generate 3.67J pulses supporting 4fs transform-limited pulse durations. Adding the nonlinear refractive index to the simulation, the energy output is reduced by ~11% and the bandwidth narrows by ~129nm, increasing the Fourier limit by ~17.5%.

Terawatt diode-pumped Yb:CaF2 laser.

We present what we believe to be the first terawatt diode-pumped laser employing single-crystalline Yb:CaF(2) as the amplifying medium. A maximum pulse energy of 420 mJ at a repetition rate of 1 Hz was achieved by seeding with a stretched femtosecond pulse 2 ns in duration, preamplified to 40 mJ. After recompression, a pulse energy of 197 mJ and a duration of 192 fs were obtained, corresponding to a peak power of 1 TW. Furthermore, nanosecond pulses containing an energy of up to 905 mJ were generated without optical damage.

Generation of 220 mJ nanosecond pulses at a 10 Hz repetition rate with excellent beam quality in a diode-pumped Yb:YAG MOPA system.

A novel all-diode-pumped master oscillator power amplifier system based on Yb:YAG crystal rods has been developed. It consists of a Q-switched oscillator delivering 3 mJ, 6.4 ns pulses at a 10 Hz repetition rate and an additional four-pass amplifier, which boosts the output energy to 220 mJ, while a close to TEM(00) beam quality could be observed. Additionally a simulation of the amplification was written that allows for further scaling considerations.