Strong-field interaction of a dual SWIR/LWIR laser pulse with atmospheric gases (Regents of UCLA)
Abstract
This is a FY2019 proposal. In support of the ONR MURI experimental program, we propose to procure a commercial Ti:Sapphire regenerative amplifier that can generate high-power 0.8 ~m femtosecond pulses and to study laser-matter/plasma interactions in the LWIR region at intensities of 1-100 TW/cm2 by using these SWIR pulses synchronized to 10 ~m short CO2 pulses with an accuracy of ~20 fs. This proposal in conjunction with already submitted DURIP FY19 ~A two-color 0.8 and 10 micron ultrafast laser system~ will provide new additional capability in investigating nonlinear optics and laser-plasma physics in the long wavelength limit relevant to filamentation in air. In particular combination of an ~100 GW femtosecond SWIR pulse deterministically synchronized with a high-power LWIR CO2 laser pulse will expand our DoD research program in the following way. 1) Exploring potential of increasing the lifetime and the electron plasma density in both SWIR and LWIR self-guided plasma channels by two-color controlling of electron attachment and electron-ion recombination rates in atmospheric gases.2) Studying plasma formation dynamics for both SWIR (0.8 ~m) and LWIR (10 ~m) high-power beams below the tunnel ionization threshold by conducting time-resolved plasma density measurements in partially ionized atmospheric pressure gases.3) Characterizing spectral and temporal dynamics of a LWIR pulse in the air filament by using a novel XFROG diagnostic pumped by high-power stretched 0.8 ~m pulses. All members of our MURI team, including University of Maryland, University of Arizona, University of Central Florida-CREOL, State University of New York at Stony Brook ~SUNY as well as collaborators from University of Geneva will be using the two-color 0.8 and 10 micron ultrafast laser system in their research activities at the UCLA Neptune Laboratory. Also the AFRL group lead by A. Schmitt-Sody is interested in doing experiments on RF generation in LWIR filaments. Overall this development will facilitate research-related education process for many years to come by training PhD students and postdocs in a state-of the-art on-campus facility where they can gain hands-on laboratory experience.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 15, 2019
- Source ID
- N000141912517
Entities
People
- Chandrashekhar J. Joshi
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Los Angeles