Multistep pulse compressor for 10s to 100s PW lasers.

Area of Science:

• High-energy physics
• Quantum electrodynamics
• Laser technology

Background:

• Petawatt (PW) lasers are crucial for fundamental research, including strong-field quantum electrodynamics and vacuum pair production.
• Current pulse compressors face limitations in damage threshold and size, hindering the achievement of higher peak laser powers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a feasible multistep pulse compressor (MPC) for increasing maximum bearable input and output pulse energies.
• To overcome the limitations of current diffraction grating-based compressors for high-energy lasers.

Main Methods:

• The proposed MPC integrates a prism pair for pre-compression, a four-grating compressor (FGC) for main compression, and a spatiotemporal focusing self-compressor for post-compression.
• The prism pair modifies spatiotemporal properties, smoothing and enlarging the laser beam to increase energy handling capacity.

Main Results:

• The MPC design enables achieving 100 PW with a single beam or over 150 PW by combining two beams using current optics.
• Theoretically, the MPC method can increase output pulse energy by approximately four times compared to a typical FGC.

Conclusions:

• The novel MPC design simplifies compressor systems, enhances stability, and reduces costs associated with gratings and optics.
• This advancement is expected to facilitate the development of multi-hundred PW laser systems, expanding research frontiers in ultra-intense laser physics.