Laser Propagation Direction Research Articles

Interplay between Coulomb-focusing and non-dipole effects in strong-field ionization with elliptical polarization

We study strong-field ionization and rescattering beyond the long-wavelength limit of the dipole approximation with elliptically polarized mid-IR laser pulses. Full three-dimensional photoelectron momentum distributions (PMDs) measured with velocity map imaging and tomographic reconstruction revealed an unexpected sharp ridge structure in the polarization plane (2018 Phys. Rev. A 97 013404). This thin line-shaped ridge structure for low-energy photoelectrons is correlated with the ellipticity-dependent asymmetry of the PMD along the beam propagation direction. The peak of the projection of the PMD onto the beam propagation axis is shifted from negative to positive values when the sharp ridge fades away with increasing ellipticity. With classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations and analytical analysis, we study the underlying physics of this feature. The underlying physics is based on the interplay between the lateral drift of the ionized electron, the laser magnetic field induced drift in the laser propagation direction, and Coulomb focusing. To apply our observations to emerging techniques relying on strong-field ionization processes, including time-resolved holography and molecular imaging, we present a detailed classical trajectory-based analysis of our observations. The analysis leads to the explanation of the fine structure of the ridge and its non-dipole behavior upon rescattering while introducing restrictions on the ellipticity. These restrictions as well as the ionization and recollision phases provide additional observables to gain information on the timing of the ionization and recollision process and non-dipole properties of the ionization process.

Effect of sodium oxide content on the formation of nanogratings in germanate glass by a femtosecond laser.

We report on the formation and structural evolution of embedded self-organized, polarization-dependent nanogratings in sodium germanate glasses induced by an 800 nm, 1 kHz femtosecond laser. Optical birefringence dependent on the femtosecond laser polarization as well as the sodium oxide content is observed when the sample surface is perpendicular to the laser propagation direction. Scanning electron microscopy images of the written lines reveal the formation of periodic platelet or nanovoid arrays, which are aligned perpendicularly to the laser polarization direction after mechanical polishing. The influences of sodium oxide content on the morphology and period of the nanogratings are discussed.

Theoretical investigation of tunable polarized broadband terahertz radiation from magnetized gas plasma**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11574105, and 61475054) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. 2017KFYXJJ029).

The mechanism of terahertz (THz) pulse generation with a static magnetic field imposed on a gas plasma is theoretically investigated. The investigation demonstrates that the static magnetic field alters the electron motion during the optical field ionization of gas, leading to a two-dimensional asymmetric acceleration process of the ionized electrons. Simulation results reveal that elliptically or circularly polarized broadband THz radiation can be generated with an external static magnetic field imposed along the propagation direction of the two-color laser. The polarization of the THz radiation can be tuned by the strength of the external static magnetic field.

Asymmetrical damage growth of multilayer dielectric gratings induced by picosecond laser pulses.

We experimentally investigated the laser damage growth behavior of multilayer dielectric gratings (MLDGs) by the picosecond pulses at 1053nm. The damage growth threshold of 2.43J/cm2 is significantly lower than the 20/1 damage threshold of 3.06 J/cm2. Once the damage site is initiated, the damage area grows linearly with shot number and saturates after sufficient shots due to the Gaussian spot. The barycenter of the growing damage site deviates from the laser spot center and their distance increases with the shot number, which indicates the asymmetry of the damage growth along the laser propagation axis. The growth rate of the damage site along the laser propagation direction is larger than that in the reverse direction by a factor of ~1.8 for various fluences. The comparison of the experimental and numerical results reveals that the asymmetrical intensity modulation induced by the damage sites causes the asymmetry in growth. The revealed characteristics and mechanisms of the damage growth can be of great significance to predict the lifetime of the MLDGs in high-power laser systems.

Multi-GeV electron-positron beam generation from laser-electron scattering

The new generation of laser facilities is expected to deliver short (10 fs–100 fs) laser pulses with 10–100 PW of peak power. This opens an opportunity to study matter at extreme intensities in the laboratory and provides access to new physics. Here we propose to scatter GeV-class electron beams from laser-plasma accelerators with a multi-PW laser at normal incidence. In this configuration, one can both create and accelerate electron-positron pairs. The new particles are generated in the laser focus and gain relativistic momentum in the direction of laser propagation. Short focal length is an advantage, as it allows the particles to be ejected from the focal region with a net energy gain in vacuum. Electron-positron beams obtained in this setup have a low divergence, are quasi-neutral and spatially separated from the initial electron beam. The pairs attain multi-GeV energies which are not limited by the maximum energy of the initial electron beam. We present an analytical model for the expected energy cutoff, supported by 2D and 3D particle-in-cell simulations. The experimental implications, such as the sensitivity to temporal synchronisation and laser duration is assessed to provide guidance for the future experiments.

Micron-size hydrogen cluster target for laser-driven proton acceleration

As a new laser-driven ion acceleration technique, we proposed a way to produce impurity-free, highly reproducible, and robust proton beams exceeding 100 MeV using a Coulomb explosion of micron-size hydrogen clusters. In this study, micron-size hydrogen clusters were generated by expanding the cooled high-pressure hydrogen gas into a vacuum via a conical nozzle connected to a solenoid valve cooled by a mechanical cryostat. The size distributions of the hydrogen clusters were evaluated by measuring the angular distribution of laser light scattered from the clusters. The data were analyzed mathematically based on the Mie scattering theory combined with the Tikhonov regularization method. The maximum size of the hydrogen cluster at 25 K and 6 MPa in the stagnation state was recognized to be 2.15 ± 0.10 μm. The mean cluster size decreased with increasing temperature, and was found to be much larger than that given by Hagena’s formula. This discrepancy suggests that the micron-size hydrogen clusters were formed by the atomization (spallation) of the liquid or supercritical fluid phase of hydrogen. In addition, the density profiles of the gas phase were evaluated for 25 to 80 K at 6 MPa using a Nomarski interferometer. Based on the measurement results and the equation of state for hydrogen, the cluster mass fraction was obtained. 3D particles-in-cell (PIC) simulations concerning the interaction processes of micron-size hydrogen clusters with high power laser pulses predicted the generation of protons exceeding 100 MeV and accelerating in a laser propagation direction via an anisotropic Coulomb explosion mechanism, thus demonstrating a future candidate in laser-driven proton sources for upcoming multi-petawatt lasers.

Optimization exploration of laser ablation propulsion performance of infrared dye doped glycidyl azide polymer

The energetic polymer glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) is selected as the propellant of laser ablation micro thruster, and the effect of infrared dye doping on the propelling performance of laser ablative GAP is analyzed. By comparing the propulsion performance data with the plumes of infrared dyes doped GAP under different laser intensities, doping concentrations, target thickness and laser ablation modes, the optimization of the propulsion performance of infrared dye doped GAP is explored preliminarily. The experimental results show that the exponential attenuation characteristics of laser energy and the strong viscosity of GAP doped with infrared dye in the transmission mode lead to the existence of incomplete ablative GAP in the plume. The propulsion performances of GAP are influenced by the doping concentration of infrared dye and the thickness of propellant. Only when the target thickness is close to the laser absorption depth, can the mass of incomplete ablation along the direction of laser propagation be the least and can the laser energy be fully absorbed by the propellant to make the central ablation region reach the temperature threshold of the release of chemical energy. At the same time the optimum value of propulsion performance can be achieved. The GAP doped with infrared dyes in which laser ablation process follows the rule of absorbing laser energy first and spraying first is decomposed adequately under the reflection mode and the propelling performance is better than that in the transmission mode.

Multiphoton Polymerization Using Femtosecond Bessel Beam for Layerless Three-Dimensional Printing

Photopolymerization enables the printing of three-dimensional (3D) objects through successively solidifying liquid photopolymer on two-dimensional (2D) planes. However, such layer-by-layer process significantly limits printing speed, because a large number of layers need to be processed in sequence. In this paper, we propose a novel 3D printing method based on multiphoton polymerization using femtosecond Bessel beam. This method eliminates the need for layer-by-layer processing, and therefore dramatically increases printing speed for structures with high aspect ratios, such as wires and tubes. By using unmodulated Bessel beam, a stationary laser exposure creates a wire with average diameter of 100 μm and length exceeding 10 mm, resulting in an aspect ratio > 100:1. Scanning this beam on the lateral plane fabricates a hollow tube within a few seconds, more than ten times faster than using the layer-by-layer method. Next, we modulate the Bessel beam with a spatial light modulator (SLM) and generate multiple beam segments along the laser propagation direction. Experimentally observed beam pattern agrees with optics diffraction calculation. This 3D printing method can be further explored for fabricating complex structures and has the potential to dramatically increase 3D printing speed while maintaining high resolution.

Effect of a fiber-capillary structure on nanosecond laser pulse propulsion

In the propulsion experiments, we investigate the effect of the micro propulsion structure on laser pulse propulsion. A single glass microsphere with diameter of 60 μm used as a projectile was deposited into the capillary tube. In the collected spectra, several characteristic peaks appeared, demonstrating that plasma formation due to air ionization. The simulation results showed that the capillary can reduce the loss of laser pulse energy and confines a portion of the pulse energy in the micro propulsion structure (the micro propulsion structure consists of a fiber and capillary). The shockwave formation due to the plasma expansion was oriented along the laser propagation direction. Therefore, the propulsion efficiency can be enhanced.

Photon-momentum transfer in one- and two-photon ionization of atoms

The transfer of the linear photon momentum to the electron in the few-photon ionization of an atom is accurately computed through a numerical solution to the three-dimensional time-dependent Schr\odinger equation (TDSE) beyond the dipole approximation. The characteristics of the transfer is studied in detail by comparing the TDSE results with those calculated by the perturbation theory (PT) using the exact scattering states. Our fully quantum-mechanical calculations show a discernible photoelectron momentum shift along the laser's propagation direction, which is caused by the nondipole effects. The momentum transfer rule for the single-photon ionization is shown to agree with results obtained from the perturbation theory. We identify some extraordinary ``dips'' in the photon-momentum transfer in the case of two-photon ionization, which depend on the laser ellipticity and are caused by the suppression of the nondipole transitions. In addition, the Coulomb screening effect on the photon-momentum transfer has also been investigated and we find that the Coulomb tail is negligible in the single-photon ionization case. However, the potential in the short range near the Coulomb center may influence the initial state, which will change the amount of the momentum that can be transferred.

Effects of orbital and Coulomb potential in strong-field nonadiabatic tunneling ionization of atoms

We study the intensity-dependent photoelectron differential momentum distributions from tunneling ionization of Kr and Xe atoms in circularly polarized laser fields. We measure the width of photoelectron momentum distribution along the laser propagation direction in conjunction with the most probable momentum in the polarization plane. The predictions of the available tunneling models do not agree with the measurement. We further present a semiclassical model for strong-field tunneling ionization of atoms in circularly polarized laser fields, in which we include the effect of the initial orbitals with different magnetic quantum numbers. Using this model, we quantify the relative contributions of the initial orbitals with different magnetic quantum numbers to the photoelectron differential momentum distributions. We achieve good agreement with the measurement, which does not depend on calibration of the laser intensity. Both the atomic orbitals and the long-range Coulomb potential have significant effects on the quantitative description of strong-field tunneling ionization of atoms.

Coulomb-corrected strong-field quantum trajectories beyond dipole approximation

Non-dipole effects in strong-field photoelectron momentum spectra have been revealed experimentally (Smeenk et al 2011 Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 193002; Ludwig et al 2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 243001). For certain laser parameters and photoelectron momenta the spectra were found to be shifted against the laser propagation direction whereas one would naively assume that the radiation pressure due to the -force pushes electrons always in the propagation direction. Only the interplay between Lorentz and Coulomb forces may give rise to such counterintuitive dynamics. In this work, we calculate the momentum-dependent shift in and against the propagation direction by extending the quantum trajectory-based Coulomb-corrected strong-field approximation beyond the dipole approximation. A semi-analytical treatment where both magnetic and Coulomb forces are treated perturbatively but simultaneously reproduces the results from the full numerical solution of the equations of motion.

Magetostatic amplifier with tunable maximum by twisted-light plasma interactions

Laser beams with Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) mode carry orbital angular momentum (OAM); however, when interacting with plasmas, the net angular momentum acquired by plasmas is basically zero after interaction. Here, we find when there exists a small magetostatic seed along the laser propagation direction, the barrier would be broken, giving rise to dramatic angular momentum transfer from LG-lasers to plasmas. Hence, the net OAM remaining in the plasmas system would continuously enhance the magetostatic field, until the corresponding Larmor frequency of electrons is comparable to the laser frequency in vacuum. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are performed to confirm our theory, producing spatial-uniform, temporal-stable and extremely-intense magetostatic fields.

Strong Field Theories beyond Dipole Approximations in Nonrelativistic Regimes.

The exact nondipole Volkov solutions to the Schrödinger equation and Pauli equation are found, based on which a strong field theory beyond the dipole approximation is built for describing the nondipole effects in nonrelativistic laser driven electron dynamics. This theory is applied to investigate momentum partition laws for multiphoton and tunneling ionization and explicitly shows that the complex interplay of a laser field and Coulomb action may reverse the expected photoelectron momentum along the laser propagation direction. The magnetic-spin coupling does not bring observable effects on the photoelectron momentum distribution and can be neglected. Compared to the strong field approximation within the dipole approximation, this theory works in a much wider range of laser parameters and lays a solid foundation for describing nonrelativistic electron dynamics in both short wavelength and midinfrared regimes where nondipole effects are unavoidable.

Electromagnetically induced transparency of 87Rb in a buffer gas cell with magnetic field

We have studied the phenomenon of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of 87Rb vapor at room temperature in a magnetic field with an arbitrary angle to the laser propagation direction. Rather than exposing atoms to a parallelled or transverse magnetic field as usual, in our work, we apply a magnetic field (up to 45 Gauss) with an arbitrary angle to the laser propagation direction and the spectra become much more complex. More EIT dips are observed due to the Zeeman splitting on the D2 line of 87Rb in a -type configuration. With a 5 Torr N2 buffer gas in the thermal 2 cm vapor cell, the state has a very short effective lifetime, corresponding to a large energy broadening, which removes the velocity selective optical pumping effect almost completely and keeps the high resolution EIT spectrum for the energy splitting of 87Rb in magnetic fields. The shifting of the EIT resonances with the strength of the applied magnetic field coincides well with the theory based on a full matrix Hamiltonian combined with a spectral decomposition method. Our work can be extended to measure the magnetic field vector in space. The effects of the detuning of the probe and coupling beams on the spectral lines are also investigated.

Optical concatenation of a large number of beads with a single-beam optical tweezer.

Optical tweezers consist of the spatial confinement of microscopic dielectric particles by the action of forces produced by the change in momentum of the photons of a highly focused laser beam that are deviated by the particle. In experiments that use a single laser beam, it is common to capture not only one but a few particles in the optical trap. However, to our knowledge, the formation of a long chain of beads optically confined with a single laser beam has never been reported. In this work, up to 73 silica spheres immersed in water are seen concatenated along the propagation direction of a 976-nm wavelength Gaussian laser of 300 mW of power. This long chain of beads is obtained when the laser is focused through an oil-immersion DIN microscope objective with 100× magnification and a numerical aperture of 1.25. When performing the same experiment using an infinity-corrected UplanFLN 100× objective with a numerical aperture of 1.3, the maximum number of concatenated beads is only 14. Our results suggest that the mechanisms responsible for the observed phenomena involve successive refocusing of the laser beam by each trapped sphere, optically induced dipole coupling (commonly referred to as optical binding), and aberrations generated by the DIN microscope objective.

Superponderomotive regime of tunneling ionization

The photoelectron spectrum in the ultra-relativistic limit of tunneling ionization is strongly affected by wave-particle resonance and finite spot-size effects, in contradistinction with the usual assumptions of strong field physics. Near term laser facilities will access a regime where ionized electrons are abruptly accelerated in the laser propagation direction, such that they stay in phase with the laser fields through a substantial portion of the confocal region. The final momentum of the electron depends significantly on where in the confocal region it originated. By manipulating the target and collection geometry, it is possible to obtain low emittance, low energy spread, gigavolt photoelectrons. Radiation reaction effects play a negligible role in near term scenarios, but become interesting in the multi-exawatt regime. A significant advance in numerical particle tracking is introduced.

Relativistic harmonics for turbulent wakefield diagnostics

The propagation properties of relativistic harmonics excited in a plasma with an intense laser pulse is investigated theoretically and numerically. Focusing on the frequency separation, a cold electron fluid model in two spatial dimension is discussed to obtain the harmonic amplitude. The theoretical predictions are verified by performing particle-in-cell simulations in two spatial dimensions. When the laser amplitude is large, the strong ponderomotive force expels the electrons, creating a large amplitude density structures associated with the wakefield. The harmonics propagate obliquely with respect to the laser propagation direction, which is well represented by the structure of the high density layer resulting from the transverse poderomotive force. We also discuss a possible experimental setup to observe the density structures relevant to wakefield.

Laser-pulse compression using magnetized plasmas.

Proposals to reach the next generation of laser intensities through Raman or Brillouin backscattering have centered on optical frequencies. Higher frequencies are beyond the range of such methods mainly due to the wave damping that accompanies the higher-density plasmas necessary for compressing higher frequency lasers. However, we find that an external magnetic field transverse to the direction of laser propagation can reduce the required plasma density. Using parametric interactions in magnetized plasmas to mediate pulse compression, both reduces the wave damping and alleviates instabilities, thereby enabling higher frequency or lower intensity pumps to produce pulses at higher intensities and longer durations. In addition to these theoretical advantages, our method in which strong uniform magnetic fields lessen the need for high-density uniform plasmas also lessens key engineering challenges or at least exchanges them for different challenges.

Bifurcation of ion momentum distributions in sequential double ionization by elliptically polarized laser pulses

Using a fully classical model, we have studied sequential double ionization (SDI) of argon driven by elliptically polarized laser pulses at intensities well in the over-barrier ionization region. The results show that the width of the ion momentum along the major elliptical axis increases with the ellipticity while that in the laser propagation direction decreases with the ellipticity. The ion momentum in the minor elliptical axis bifurcates from one peak structure to three-peak, then to four-peak, finally to six-peak structure. Analysis shows that this ellipticity dependence of the ion momentum distribution is a result of the subcycle nature of the ionization dynamics in SDI. By changing the ellipticity and wavelength of the driving pulses, this subcycle ionization dynamics is more observable. This provides a simple and efficient way to study the subcycle ionization dynamics in strong field processes.