Phase-Stabilized Terawatt High Energy Ultra-Short (PhaSTHEUS) Laser Facility.

摘要

Over the last decade Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification (OPCPA) has matured significantly, and many new laser systems are exploiting the advantages of ultra-broad bandwidth amplification, high gain, wavelength flexibility, reduced thermal effects, and increased temporal contrast, compared to traditional Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA). The scalability of OPCPA is limited mostly by the available picosecond duration pump sources, since shorter pump pulses are required for broadband Optical Parametric Amplification (OPA). The incorporation of Divided Pulse Amplification and coherent pulse combination will allow a greater than 250% increase in pump pulse energy compared to the previously proposed design. OPCPA with this high energy pump will allow the PhaSTHEUS facility to reach record peak powers from a quasi-single cycle pulse system. Relativistic intensities at this level enable interesting plasma physics such as high-order harmonic generation from solid targets and proton acceleration.