Abstract
The propagation of an ultra-short light pulse is studied in the framework of scalar diffraction theory. Light pulses are focused by different types of wavy parabolic surfaces. The temporal-spatial behavior of the two-dimensional wave field is computed in the vicinity of the focal plane. It is shown that the slightly perturbation from the perfect parabolic shape leads a space-time dispersion of the pulse in the neighborhood of the focus.
Highlights
Since the advent of the laser over sixty years ago, there has been intense interest in the quest to generate ultra-short laser pulses in the picosecond and femtosecond time scale
It turns out that the effects of the mirror waviness are similar to the effects of sinusoidal phase grating
The propagation of a focused ultra-short light pulse was studied in the framework of scalar diffraction theory
Summary
Since the advent of the laser over sixty years ago, there has been intense interest in the quest to generate ultra-short laser pulses in the picosecond and femtosecond time scale. Nowadays great efforts have been devoted to generate and study pulses in the attosecond regime, based on highly nonlinear frequency conversion of femtosecond sources into the soft X-ray spectral region. A typical amplified Ti:Al2O2 ultra-fast laser system can produce 1 mJ pulses of 100 fs duration, which corresponds to roughly 10 GW of power. When these pulses are focused, it is simple to obtain intensities greater than 1015 W/cm, where the electric field of the optical pulses is comparable to the binding field of electrons to ions. The transverse intensity distribution of the focused pulse is controlled by the undulation of the mirror surface
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