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Femtosecond Laser Filaments for Use in Sub-Diffraction-Limited Imaging and Remote Sensing
Published on: April 25, 2019
Aberration-free laser beam in the soft x-ray range.
J Ph Goddet1, S Sebban, J Gautier
1Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée (LOA), ENSTA-Ecole Polytechnique, Chemin de la Hunière,91761 Palaiseau, France. jean-philippe.goddet@ensta.fr
Optics Letters
|August 18, 2009
Summary
Researchers developed the first aberration-free soft x-ray laser using a plasma amplifier seeded with a high-harmonic laser. This breakthrough offers high beam quality for advanced applications in the soft x-ray spectrum.
Area of Science:
- Laser Physics
- Plasma Physics
- X-ray Optics
Background:
- Generating high-quality laser beams in the soft x-ray spectrum is challenging.
- Plasma amplifiers offer potential for high-power coherent radiation.
- Seeding techniques are crucial for controlling laser output properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To achieve the first aberration-free laser beam in the soft x-ray spectral range.
- To characterize the beam quality and emission properties of the developed soft x-ray laser.
- To understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the high beam quality.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing an optical-field-ionized population-inverted plasma amplifier.
- Seeding the amplifier with the 25th harmonic of an infrared laser.
- Analyzing the spatial profile, wavefront distortions, and emission cone of the generated soft x-ray laser.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated the first aberration-free laser beam in the soft x-ray range (32.8 nm).
- Achieved a narrow emission cone (1.34 mrad) at a 10 Hz repetition rate.
- Observed a circular beam profile with minimal wavefront distortions (lambda/17).
Conclusions:
- The plasma amplifier, when seeded appropriately, can produce high-quality soft x-ray laser beams.
- Spatial filtering by the plasma amplifier aperture is identified as the key mechanism for achieving aberration-free output.
- This work paves the way for new applications requiring high-quality coherent soft x-ray sources.
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