Control of the configuration of multiple femtosecond filaments in air by adaptive wavefront manipulation.

We demonstrate the ability to position single and multiple filaments arbitrarily within the energy reservoir of a high power femtosecond laser pulse. A deformable mirror controlled by a genetic algorithm finds the optimal phase profile for producing filaments at user-defined locations within the energy reservoir to within a quarter of the nominal filament size, on average. This proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates a potential technique for fast control of the configuration of the filaments.

High-order harmonic generation from solid targets with 2 mJ pulses.

Harmonics up to the 18th order are generated from solid targets by focusing 2 mJ, 50 fs pulses at 800 nm to a spot size of 1.7 µm (FWHM). To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of high-harmonic generation with a very short focal length paraboloid (f/1.4) and kilohertz laser system. The harmonics have a low divergence (<4°) compared to the driving beam and conversion efficiencies (>10(-7) per harmonic) comparable to gas harmonics. No contrast enhancement techniques are employed, and the system is capable of operating at 500 Hz.

Emission and its back-reaction accompanying electron motion in relativistically strong and QED-strong pulsed laser fields.

The emission from an electron in the field of a relativistically strong laser pulse is analyzed. At pulse intensities of J>or=2x10(22) W/cm(2) the emission from counterpropagating electrons is modified by the effects of quantum electrodynamics (QED), as long as the electron energy is sufficiently high: E>or=1 GeV . The radiation force experienced by an electron is for the first time derived from the QED principles and its applicability range is extended toward the QED-strong fields.

Pair creation in QED-strong pulsed laser fields interacting with electron beams.

QED effects are known to occur in a strong laser pulse interaction with a counterpropagating electron beam, among these effects being electron-positron pair creation. We discuss the range of laser pulse intensities of J≥5×10(22) W/cm2 combined with electron beam energies of tens of GeV. In this regime multiple pairs may be generated from a single beam electron, some of the newborn particles being capable of further pair production. Radiation backreaction prevents avalanche development and limits pair creation. The system of integro-differential kinetic equations for electrons, positrons and γ photons is derived and solved numerically.

Vacuum-free x-ray source based on ultrashort laser irradiation of solids.

A vacuum-free ultrafast laser-based x-ray source is demonstrated. Hard x-rays up to 80KeV are generated from Cu, Mo, Ag, Sn, and Ge targets in a laminar helium flow surrounded by atmosphere using tightly focused 33fs, 3mJ laser pulses. X-ray spectra, conversion efficiencies, and source sizes are presented. Six-fold efficiency improvement is observed, over similar sources found in the literature [1]. Source sizes determined for Cu and Mo show distinct dependences on laser pulse energy. It is also shown that the Cu source size has no dependence on the presence of the spectral band around the 8KeV K-shell lines.

Isolated attosecond pulses generated by relativistic effects in a wavelength-cubed focal volume.

Lasers that provide an energy encompassed in a focal volume of a few cubic wavelengths (lambda3) can create relativistic intensity with maximal gradients using minimal energy. With particle-in-cell simulations we found that single 200-as pulses could be produced efficiently in a lambda3 laser pulse reflection by means of deflection and phase compression caused by the coherent motion of the plasma electrons that emit these pulses. This novel technique is efficient (approximately 10%) and can produce single attosecond pulses from the millijoule to the joule level.