light waveform control
We pursue two approaches to scaling the power of multi-10-MHz repetition-rate ultrashort pulse trains: (i) by the development of multi-µJ-pulse-energy mode-locked subpicosecond laser oscillators for driving broadband OPA for the production of phase-stable few-cycle µJ pulses, and (ii) via coherent overlap of femtosecond pulses inside of a passive enhancement cavity with the same repetition rate as the master oscillator, allowing for the intracavity pulse energy to exceed that of the seed pulse energy by several orders of magnitude, to reach average power levels from tens to hundreds of kilowatts. Via the intracavity implementation of high-order harmonic generation in atomic gases and Thomson backscattering from relativistic electrons we aim at generating high-brilliance radiation in the soft- and hard-X-ray range, respectively, with attosecond and femtosecond pulse durations.
contact: I. Pupeza
, A. Apolonskiy
Intense few-cycle light waveforms at a carrier wavelength of ∼ 750 nm and pulse durations in the range of ∼3-5 fs with controlled carrier-envelope phase are being routinely produced by several kHz-rate Ti:sapphire laser systems incorporating a hollow-fibre/chirped-mirror compressor: FP-1, FP-2, FP-3. The pulse energy ranges from ∼ 0.4 mJ (FP-1/2) to ∼ 1.5mJ (FP-3). They are currently our workhorses for isolated attosecond pulse generation, attosecond control and spectroscopy.
contact: E. Goulielmakis, M. Schultze
LWS-pro will be a unique light source, which is capable of delivering CEP stabilized, "single-cycle", TW-scale light pulses at 5 kHz repetition rate. Such pulses would be ideally suited for the generation of high energy single attosecond pulses, and the high repetition rate would bring us closer to XUV-pump XUV-probe experiments. LWS-pro will combine a number of different techniques that have been pioneered at MPQ: a diode-pumped thin-disk laser (5 kHz, 200mJ, 1ps, i.e. 1kW) will be used to pump the of shortpulse pumped OPCPA chain (PFS technology) for amplifying the spectral range of 700-1400nm. This spectral range will be extended by two-colour pumped OPCPA as in the LWS-20 system (500-700nm). The target parameters in this core spectral range are: pulse duration 20 mJ, i.e. peak power > 10 TW at a repetition rate of 5 kHz.
contact: Y.Deng
For acceleration and control of relativistic electron bunches and intense attosecond XUV pulse generation, we have developed a sub-10-fs, multi-TW, 10-Hz source (currently ∼8fs, ∼150 mJ), LWS-20, based on noncollinear OPA of the broadband near-infrared signal (∼700-1000 nm) delivered by a Ti:sapphire laser. The system is being upgraded, in several steps towards ∼5fs, ∼0.5J, ∼100 TW and a controlled carrier-envelope phase, LWS-20 → LWS-100.
contact: L.Veisz, X. Gu
To scale electron acceleration into the gigaelectronvolt regime for driving a compact X-ray free electron laser, we pursue the development of a petawatt-scale few-cycle laser, the Petawatt Field Synthesizer (PFS), based on short-pulse-pumped broadband OPA and an all-solid-state 1-picosecond Yb:YAG pump source. The envisaged target parameters are 3J, ∼1PW @ 1.2μm and 10Hz with reproducible waveform. To be commissioned in 2010, PFS will constitute the world’s first petawatt laser delivering controlled superstrong electromagnetic fields and 36000 laser pulses per hour, in sharp contrast with existing petawatt-scale lasers, delivering a few shots over the same period. PFS is expected to open new prospects for exploring relativistic interactions and exploiting them for developing a new generation of ultra-brilliant X-ray and particle sources.
contact: S. Karsch, Zs. Major
contact: I. Pupeza
, A. ApolonskiyIntense few-cycle light waveforms at a carrier wavelength of ∼ 750 nm and pulse durations in the range of ∼3-5 fs with controlled carrier-envelope phase are being routinely produced by several kHz-rate Ti:sapphire laser systems incorporating a hollow-fibre/chirped-mirror compressor: FP-1, FP-2, FP-3. The pulse energy ranges from ∼ 0.4 mJ (FP-1/2) to ∼ 1.5mJ (FP-3). They are currently our workhorses for isolated attosecond pulse generation, attosecond control and spectroscopy.
contact: E. Goulielmakis
, M. SchultzeLWS-pro will be a unique light source, which is capable of delivering CEP stabilized, "single-cycle", TW-scale light pulses at 5 kHz repetition rate. Such pulses would be ideally suited for the generation of high energy single attosecond pulses, and the high repetition rate would bring us closer to XUV-pump XUV-probe experiments. LWS-pro will combine a number of different techniques that have been pioneered at MPQ: a diode-pumped thin-disk laser (5 kHz, 200mJ, 1ps, i.e. 1kW) will be used to pump the of shortpulse pumped OPCPA chain (PFS technology) for amplifying the spectral range of 700-1400nm. This spectral range will be extended by two-colour pumped OPCPA as in the LWS-20 system (500-700nm). The target parameters in this core spectral range are: pulse duration 20 mJ, i.e. peak power > 10 TW at a repetition rate of 5 kHz.
contact: Y.Deng
For acceleration and control of relativistic electron bunches and intense attosecond XUV pulse generation, we have developed a sub-10-fs, multi-TW, 10-Hz source (currently ∼8fs, ∼150 mJ), LWS-20, based on noncollinear OPA of the broadband near-infrared signal (∼700-1000 nm) delivered by a Ti:sapphire laser. The system is being upgraded, in several steps towards ∼5fs, ∼0.5J, ∼100 TW and a controlled carrier-envelope phase, LWS-20 → LWS-100.
contact: L.Veisz
, X. GuTo scale electron acceleration into the gigaelectronvolt regime for driving a compact X-ray free electron laser, we pursue the development of a petawatt-scale few-cycle laser, the Petawatt Field Synthesizer (PFS), based on short-pulse-pumped broadband OPA and an all-solid-state 1-picosecond Yb:YAG pump source. The envisaged target parameters are 3J, ∼1PW @ 1.2μm and 10Hz with reproducible waveform. To be commissioned in 2010, PFS will constitute the world’s first petawatt laser delivering controlled superstrong electromagnetic fields and 36000 laser pulses per hour, in sharp contrast with existing petawatt-scale lasers, delivering a few shots over the same period. PFS is expected to open new prospects for exploring relativistic interactions and exploiting them for developing a new generation of ultra-brilliant X-ray and particle sources.
contact: S. Karsch
, Zs. Majorreferences
Energy scalability of mode-locked oscillators: a completely analytical approach to analysis, V. L. Kalashnikov et al. Opt. Express 18, 25757 (2010)
Power scaling of a high-repetition-rate enhancement cavity, I. Pupeza et al. Opt. Lett. 12, 2052 (2010)
Basic Concepts and Current Status of the Petawatt Field Synthesizer – A New Approach to Ultrahigh Field Generation, Zs. Major et al. Review of Laser Engineering 37, 431 (2009)
A frequency comb in the extreme ultraviolet, Ch. Gohle et al. Nature 436, 234 (2005)
Intense 1.5-cycle near infrared laser waveforms and their use for the generation of ultra-broadband soft-X-ra harmonic continua, A.l: Cavalieri et al. New J. Phys. 9, 242 (2007)
Attosecond control and measurement: lightwave electronics, E. Goulielmakis et al. Science 317, 769 (2007)
Parametric amplification of few-cycle carrier-envelope phase-stable pulses at 2.1 µm, T. Fuji et al. Opt. Lett. 31, 1103 (2006)
Dispersiopn management for sub-10fs, 10 TW optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier, F. Tavella et al. Opt. Lett. 32, 2227 (2007)
Short pulse optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification for the generation of high-power few-cycle pulses, J. A. Fülöp et al. New J. Phys. 9, 438 (2007)
High-energy, diode-pumped nanosecond Yb:YAG MOPA system, M. Siebold et al. Opt. Express 16, 3674 (2008)
Fig. 1. Hollow-fibre/chirped-mirror compressor (schematic illustration). White-light supercontinuum (upper diagram), autocorrelation (lower diagram). (© eg)
Fig. 2. Electric-field waveforms (red lines) of waveform-controlled near-single-cycle sub-3.5fs near-infrared laser pulses delivered by LAP’s FP-1 and FP-2 sources. The electric field is shown for different values of the stabilized carrier-envelope phase. (© eg)