NEXT-GENERATION HIGH-DIMENSIONAL METROLOGIES FOR ULTRAFAST HIGH-INTENSITY LIGHT MATTER INTERACTIONS
Abstract
Optical probes provide crucial insight into phenomena where other techniques simply cannot operate such as plasmas in harsh environments. Advances in applied technologies such as laser wake-field accelerators, high-temperature combustion systems, ultrafast laser induced filaments, and secondary radiation sources (HHG, OPA, electrons) are directly coupled to progress in measurement techniques. As metrologies advance so do the applications they measure. The next generation of optical metrologies are poised to unleash the full potential of light as a non-contact and non-destructive probe of the natural world. Optical probes only extract a fraction of the information available in physical systems. One way to characterize information available to optical-probes is through the properties that distinguish light i.e., frequency, momentum, polarization, and brightness. Phenomena that affect these properties are measurable by optical probes. Resolution is related to the spread of these properties. For example, the spread of frequencies (or bandwidth) controls the temporal resolution through delta_nu*detlta_tau >1/2. Each distinguishable property of light obeys a similar relationship. Incident momenta-spread controls the spatial resolution through delta_x*delta_k>1/2, which is often expressed as delta_x>/2NA. Similar relationships exist for orbital, spin angular momentum, and photon number. Critically, these features are linked. For example, the spatial resolution in any micro- scope is directly linked to the polarization. (e.g. it is well known that a radially polarized light beam can be focused tighter than a linearly polarized beam). The situation becomes exponentially more complicated when all four defining aspects of light are combined. This is exactly the situation we face when dealing with ultrafast pulses of light. We simply can no longer ignore the multidimensional nature of light in high-intensity light matter interactions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210495
Entities
People
- Daniel Lawrence Adams
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Colorado School of Mines
- United States Air Force