arXiv subjects

Zhaoli Li

Publications and source records attributed to Zhaoli Li.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Single-shot in situ pulse-duration measurement using plasma grating

Accurate measurement of the pulse duration of ultrashort, ultra-intense laser pulses at focus is essential for strong-field science. Most existing diagnostics, however, cannot allow direct in situ measurement in the focal region because of damage-threshold limits and unavoidable spatial averaging. We present a direct single-shot far-field diagnostic based on a plasma grating. In this method, the pulse duration is encoded in the axial length of an interference-written plasma grating and retrieved from the corresponding Bragg-diffraction signal. Comparison with near-field (pre-focus) autocorrelator measurements and far-field (at-focus) scanning measurements confirms single-shot pulse-duration retrieval in the focal region over 35-130 fs, and the method remains effective at a peak intensity of $\sim 10^{16}{\rm W/cm^2}$. In principle, the measurable range can be extended to 15-300 fs and to higher peak intensities. The method is insensitive to the laser central wavelength and offers a practical approach to far-field diagnostics in high-power laser systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2025

Stimulated Brillouin Amplification with Flying Focus

Material damage thresholds pose a fundamental limit to chirped pulse amplification (CPA) in high-power laser systems. Plasma-based amplification via stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) offers a damage-free alternative, yet its effectiveness has been hindered by instabilities that constrain interaction length. In this study, we report the first experimental demonstration of SBS amplification driven by a flying focus in a 3-mm plasma channel. The flying focus is generated using chromatic aberration from spherical lenses, with its velocity precisely measured by an interferometric ionization method achieving 6.6 fs timing resolution. At a focus velocity near -c, SBS amplification is realized at pump and seed intensities more than two orders of magnitude lower than in conventional setups, yielding a conversion efficiency of 14.5%. These results validate flying focus as a powerful tool for extending interaction lengths and enabling efficient plasma-based laser amplification at reduced intensities.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2025

Spatiotemporal plasma hologram

We present the first experimental realization of a four-dimensional (4D) plasma hologram capable of recording and reconstructing the full spatiotemporal information of intense laser pulses. The holographic encoding is achieved through the interference of a long object pulse and a counter-propagating short reference pulse, generating an ionized plasma grating that captures both spatial and temporal characteristics of the laser field. A first-order diffractive probe enables the retrieval of encoded information, successfully reconstructing the spatiotemporal profiles of Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian beams. The experiment demonstrates the ability to encode artificial information into the laser pulse via spectral modulation and retrieve it through plasma grating diffraction, high-lighting potential applications in ultraintense optical data processing. Key innovations include a single-shot, background-free method for direct far-field spatiotemporal measurement and the obser-vation of laser focus propagation dynamics in plasma. The plasma grating exhibits a stable lifetime of 30-40 ps and supports high repetition rates, suggesting usage for high-speed optical switches and plasmatic analog memory. These advancements establish plasma holography as a robust platform for ultrafast laser manipulation, with implications for secure optical communication, analog computing,and precision spatiotemporal control of high-intensity lasers.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2023

Generation of subcycle isolated attosecond pulses by pumping ionizing gating

We present a novel approach named as pumping ionizing gating (PIG) for the generation of isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs). In this regime, a short laser is used to ionize a pre-existing gas grating, creating a fast-extending plasma grating(FEPG) having an ionization front propagating with the velocity of light. A low-intensity long counterpropagating pump pulse is then reflected by a very narrow region of the ionization front, only where the Bragg conditions for resonant reflection is satisfied. Consequently, the pump reflection is confined within a sub-cycle region called PIG, and forms a wide-band coherent IAP in combination with the frequency up-conversion effect due to the plasma gradient. This approach results in a new scheme to generate IAPs fromlong picosecond pump pulses. Three-dimensional (3D) simulations show that a 1.6-ps, 1-μm pump pulse can be used to generate a 330 as laser pulse with a peak intensity approximately 33 times that of the pump and a conversion efficiency of around 0.1%.These results highlight the potential of the PIG method for generating IAPs with high conversion efficiency and peak intensity.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Laser Compression via fast-extending plasma gratings

It is proposed a new method of compressing laser pulse by fast extending plasma gratings(FEPG), which is created by ionizing the hypersound wave generated by stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS) in the background gas. Ionized by a short laser pulse, the phonon forms a light-velocity FEPG to fully reflect a resonant pump laser. As the reflecting surface moves with a light velocity, the reflected pulse is temporally overlapped and compressed. This regime is supported by the simulation results of a fully kinetic particle-in-cell(PIC) code Opic with a laser wavelength of 1um, displaying a pump pulse is compressed from 13ps to a few cycles(7.2fs), with an efficiency close to 80%. It is a promising method to produce critical laser powers due to several features: high efficiency without a linear stage, robustness to plasma instabilities, no seed and a wide range of pump intensity.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2021

Self-compression of stimulated Raman backscattering by flying focus

A novel regime of self-compression is proposed for plasma-based backward Raman amplification(BRA) upon flying focus. By using a pumping focus moving with a speed equal to the group velocity of stimulated Raman backscattering(SRBS), only a short part of SRBS which does always synchronize with the flying focus can be amplified. Due to the asymmetrical amplification, the pulse can be directly compressed in the linear stage of BRA. Therefore, instead of a short pulse, the Raman spontaneous or a long pulse can seed the BRA amplifiers. The regime is supported by the 2D particle-in-cell(PIC) simulation without a seed, presenting that the pump pulse is compressed from 26ps to 116fs, with an output amplitude comparable with the case of a well-synchronized short seed. This method provides a significant way to simplify the Raman amplifiers and overcome the issue of synchronization jitter between the pump and the seed.

physics.plasm-ph↗