arXiv subjects

J. P. Palastro

Publications and source records attributed to J. P. Palastro.

54 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Synchrotron radiation from a curved plasma channel laser wakefield accelerator

A laser pulse guided in a curved plasma channel can excite wakefields that steer electrons along an arched trajectory. As the electrons are accelerated along the curved channel, they emit synchrotron radiation. We present simple analytical models and simulations examining laser pulse guiding, wakefield generation, electron steering, and synchrotron emission in curved plasma channels. For experimentally realizable parameters, a ~2 GeV electron emits 0.1 photons per cm with an average photon energy of multiple keV.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2016

Two-photon vibrational excitation of air by long-wave infrared laser pulses

Ultrashort long-wave infrared (LWIR) laser pulses can resonantly excite vibrations in N2 and O2 through a two-photon transition. The absorptive, vibrational component of the ultrafast optical nonlinearity grows in time, starting smaller than, but quickly surpassing, the electronic, rotational, and vibrational refractive components. The growth of the vibrational component results in a novel mechanism of 3rd harmonic generation, providing an additional two-photon excitation channel, fundamental + 3rd harmonic. The original and emergent two-photon excitations drive the resonance exactly out of phase, causing spatial decay of the absorptive, vibrational nonlinearity. This nearly eliminates two-photon vibrational absorption. Here we present simulations and analytical calculations demonstrating how these processes modify the ultrafast optical nonlinearity in air. The results reveal nonlinear optical phenomena unique to the LWIR regime of ultrashort pulse propagation in atmosphere.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Reciprocity breaking during nonlinear propagation of adapted beams through random media

Adaptive optics (AO) systems rely on the principle of reciprocity, or symmetry with respect to the interchange of point sources and receivers. These systems use the light received from a low power emitter on or near a target to compensate profile aberrations acquired by a laser beam during linear propagation through random media. If, however, the laser beam propagates nonlinearly, reciprocity is broken, potentially undermining AO correction. Here we examine the consequences of this breakdown. While discussed for general random and nonlinear media, we consider specific examples of Kerr-nonlinear, turbulent atmosphere.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

Laser Accelerated Ions from a Shock Compressed Gas Foil

We present results of energetic laser-ion acceleration from a tailored, near solid density gas target. Colliding hydrodynamic shocks compress a pure hydrogen gas jet into a 70 μm thick target prior to the arrival of the ultra-intense laser pulse. A density scan reveals the transition from a regime characterized by a wide angle, low energy beam to one of a more focused beam with a high energy halo. In the latter case, three dimensional simulations show the formation of a Z-pinch driven by the axial current resulting from laser wakefield accelerated electrons. Ions at the rear of the target are then accelerated by a combination of space charge fields from accelerated electrons and Coulombic repulsion as the pinch dissipates.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Absolute measurement of the ultrafast nonlinear electronic and rovibrational response in H$_2$ and D$_2$

The electronic, rotational, and vibrational components of the ultrafast optical nonlinearity in H$_2$ and D$_2$ are measured directly and absolutely at intensities up to the ionization threshold of $\sim$10$^{14}$ W/cm$^2$. As the most basic nonlinear interactions of the simplest molecules exposed to high fields, these results constitute a benchmark for high field laser-matter theory and simulation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Plasma lenses for ultrashort multi-petawatt laser pulses

An ideal plasma lens can provide the focusing power of a small f-number, solid-state focusing optic at a fraction of the diameter. An ideal plasma lens, however, relies on a steady-state, linear laser pulse-plasma interaction. Ultrashort multi-petawatt (MPW) pulses possess broad bandwidths and extreme intensities, and, as a result, their interaction with the plasma lens is neither steady state nor linear. Here we examine nonlinear and time-dependent modifications to plasma lens focusing, and show that these result in chromatic and phase aberrations and amplitude distortion. We find that a plasma lens can provide enhanced focusing for 30 fs pulses with peak power up to ~1 PW. The performance degrades through the MPW regime, until finally a focusing penalty is incurred at ~10 PW.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Enhanced backscatter of optical beams reflected in turbulent air

Optical beams propagating through air acquire phase distortions from turbulent fluctuations in the refractive index. While these distortions are usually deleterious to propagation, beams reflected in a turbulent medium can undergo a local recovery of spatial coherence and intensity enhancement referred to as enhanced backscatter (EBS). Using a combination of lab-scale experiments and simulations, we investigate the EBS of optical beams reflected from corner cubes and rough surfaces, and identify the regimes in which EBS is most distinctly observed.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Enhanced betatron X-rays from axially modulated plasma wakefields

In the cavitation regime of plasma-based accelerators, a population of high-energy electrons tailing the driver can undergo betatron motion. The motion results in X-ray emission, but the brilliance and photon energy are limited by the electrons' initial transverse coordinate. To overcome this, we exploit parametrically unstable betatron motion in a cavitated, axially modulated plasma. Theory and simulations are presented showing that the unstable oscillations increase both the total X-ray energy and average photon energy.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Stimulated Raman Scattering and Nonlinear Focusing of High-Power Laser Beams Propagating in Water

The physical processes associated with propagation of a high-power (power > critical power for self-focusing) laser beam in water include nonlinear focusing, stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), optical breakdown and plasma formation. The interplay between nonlinear focusing and SRS is analyzed for cases where a significant portion of the pump power is channeled into the Stokes wave. Propagation simulations and an analytical model demonstrate that the Stokes wave can re-focus the pump wave after the power in the latter falls below the critical power. It is shown that this novel focusing mechanism is distinct from cross-phase focusing. While discussed here in the context of propagation in water, the gain-focusing phenomenon is general to any medium supporting nonlinear focusing and stimulated forward Raman scattering.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Sensitivity of propagation and energy deposition in femtosecond filamentation to the nonlinear refractive index

The axial dependence of femtosecond filamentation in air is measured under conditions of varying laser pulsewidth, energy, and focusing f-number. Filaments are characterized by the ultrafast z-dependent absorption of energy from the laser pulse and diagnosed by measuring the local single cycle acoustic wave generated. Results are compared to 2D+1 simulations of pulse propagation, whose results are highly sensitive to the instantaneous (electronic) part of the nonlinear response of $N_2$ and $O_2$. We find that recent measurements of the nonlinear refractive index ($n_2$) in [J.K. Wahlstrand et al., Phys. Rev. A. 85, 043820 (2012)] provide the best match and an excellent fit between experiments and simulations.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Positron acceleration by plasma wake fields driven by a hollow electron beam

A scheme of wake field generation for positron acceleration using hollow or donut shaped electron driver beams is studied. An annular shaped, electron free region forms around a hollow driver beam creating a favorable region (longitudinal field is accelerating and transverse field is focusing and radially linear) for positron acceleration. Accelerating gradients of the order of 10 GV/m are produced by a hollow electron beam driver with FACET like parameters. The peak accelerating field increases linearly with the total charge in the beam driver while the axial size of the favorable region ($\sim$ one plasma wavelength) remains approximately fixed. The radial size drops with the total charge but remains large enough for the placement of a witness positron beam. We simulate an efficient acceleration of a 23 GeV positron beam to 35.4 GeV with a maximum energy spread of 0.4\% and very small emittance over a plasma length of 140 cm.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2014

A nonlinear plasma retroreflector for single pulse Compton backscattering

Compton scattered x-rays can be generated using a configuration consisting of a single, ultra-intense laser pulse, and a shaped gas target. The gas target incorporates a hydrodynamically formed density spike, which nonlinearly scatters the incident pump radiation, to produce a counter-propagating electromagnetic wiggler. This self-generated wiggler field Compton scatters from electrons accelerated in the laser wakefield of the pump radiation. The nonlinear scattering mechanism in the density spike is examined theoretically and numerically in order to optimize the Compton scattered radiation. It is found that narrow-band x-rays are produced by moderate intensity pump radiation incident on the quarter-critical surface of the density spike, while high fluence, broadband x-rays are produced by high intensity pump radiation reflected near the critical surface.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Propagation of Bessel and Airy beams through atmospheric turbulence

We investigate, through simulation, the modifications to Bessel and Airy beams during propagation through atmospheric turbulence. We find that atmospheric turbulence disrupts the quasi-non-diffracting nature of Bessel and Airy beams when the transverse coherence length (Fried parameter) nears the initial aperture diameter or diagonal respectively. The turbulence induced transverse phase distortion limits the effectiveness of Bessel and Airy beams for applications requiring propagation over long distances in the turbulent atmosphere.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Model for the Atomic Dielectric Response in Time Dependent Laser Fields

A nonlocal quantum model is presented for calculating the atomic dielectric response to a strong laser electric field. By replacing the Coulomb potential with a nonlocal potential in the Schrodinger equation, a 3+1D calculation of the time-dependent electric dipole moment can be replaced with a 0+1D integral equation, offering significant computational savings. The model is benchmarked against an established ionization model and \textit{ab initio} simulation of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation. The reduced computational overhead makes the model a promising candidate to incorporate full quantum mechanical time dynamics in laser pulse propagation simulations.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2013

Quasi-phasematched laser wakefield acceleration

The energy gain in laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) is ultimately limited by dephasing, occurring when accelerated electrons outrun the accelerating phase of the wakefield. We apply quasi-phasematching, enabled by axially modulated plasma channels, to overcome this limitation. By matching the modulation period to the dephasing length, a relativistic electron can undergo energy gain over several dephasing lengths. Theory and simulations are presented showing that at a weakly relativistic laser intensity, ~10^17 W/cm2, and millijoule level pulse energies, quasi-phasematched LWFA results in energy gains of 50 MeV larger than standard LWFA.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2013

Time-dependent polarization states of high power, ultrashort laser pulses during atmospheric propagation

We investigate, through simulation, the evolution of polarization states during atmospheric propagation of high power, ultrashort laser pulses. A delayed rotational response model handling arbitrary, transverse polarization couples both the amplitude and phase of the polarization states. We find that, while circularly and linearly polarized pulses maintain their polarization, elliptically polarized pulses become depolarized due to energy equilibration between left and right circularly polarized states. The depolarization can be detrimental to remote radiation generation schemes and obscures time-integrated polarization measurements.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Effect of two-beam coupling in strong-field optical pump-probe experiments

Nonlinear optics experiments measuring phase shifts induced in a weak probe pulse by a strong pump pulse must account for coherent effects that only occur when the pump and probe pulses are temporally overlapped. It is well known that a weak probe beam experiences a greater phase shift from a strong pump beam than the pump beam induces on itself. The physical mechanism behind the enhanced phase shift is diffraction of pump light into the probe direction by a nonlinear refractive index grating produced by interference between the two beams. For an instantaneous third-order response, the effect of the grating is to simply double the probe phase shift, but when delayed nonlinearities are considered, the effect is more complex. A comprehensive treatment is given for both degenerate and nondegenerate pump-probe experiments in noble and diatomic gases. Results of numerical calculations are compared to a recent transient birefringence measurement [Loriot et al., Opt. Express 17, 13429 (2009)] and a recent spectral interferometry experiment [Wahlstrand et al., Phys. Rev. A 85, 043820 (2012)]. We also present results from two new experiments using spectrally-resolved transient birefringence with 800 nm pulses in Ar and air and degenerate chirped pulse spectral interferometry in Ar. Both experiments support the interpretation of the negative birefringence at high intensity as arising from a plasma grating.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Pulsed Mid-infrared Radiation from Spectral Broadening in Laser Wakefield Simulations

Spectral red-shifting of high power laser pulses propagating through underdense plasma can be a source of ultrashort mid-infrared (MIR) radiation. During propagation, a high power laser pulse drives large amplitude plasma waves, depleting the pulse energy. At the same time, the large amplitude plasma wave provides a dynamic dielectric response that leads to spectral shifting. The loss of laser pulse energy and the approximate conservation of laser pulse action imply that spectral red-shifts accompany the depletion. In this paper, we investigate, through simulation, the parametric dependence of MIR generation on pulse energy, initial pulse duration, and plasma density.

physics.plasm-ph↗