Petawatt lasers : towards extreme light intensities

• YAMAKAWA Koichi

  Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• ペタワットレーザー：極限の光強度を目指して
• ペタワットレーザー キョクゲン ノ ヒカリ キョウド オ メザシテ

Abstract

The technique of chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) has opened new avenues for the production of high-energy ultrafast laser pulses without optical damage to laser amplifiers. The combination of CPA and ultrabroad-band solid-state laser materials has made it possible to produce 10-fs-range pulses with petawatt peak power. Such lasers create superstrong fields equivalent to 170 times the field binding the ground-state electron in the hydrogen atom. At such intensities the electron velocity in the laser field also becomes relativistic. Thus, the free electrons move at close to the speed of light and their mass changes dramatically compared with their rest mass. In this article, recent advances in ultrafast, high-peak-power lasers using CPA and optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) are reviewed. Further developments of emerging CPA/OPCPA lasers towards higher intensity, achieving a higher repetition rate and shorter pulse duration are also described.

Journal

• Oyo Buturi

  Oyo Buturi 79 (6), 517-523, 2010-06-10

  The Japan Society of Applied Physics

Keywords

• petawatt
• ultrahigh intensity
• laser amplifiers
• ultrafast optics
• dispersion control
• gain control
• optical pulse compression
• solid-state lasers
• high field science

Details

• CRID: 1390282752335686144
• NII Article ID: 10026356977
• NII Book ID: AN00026679
• DOI: 10.11470/oubutsu.79.6_517
• ISSN: 21882290
• ISSN: 03698009
• NDL BIB ID: 10728673
• Web Site: http://id.ndl.go.jp/bib/10728673
• Web Site: https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R000000004-I10728673
• Text Lang: ja
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • NDL
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed