Accession Number:

ADA616582

Title:

A Novel Femtosecond-gated, High-resolution, Frequency-shifted Shearing Interferometry Technique for Probing Pre-plasma Expansion in Ultra-intense Laser Experiments

Descriptive Note:

Journal article

Corporate Author:

MICHIGAN UNIV ANN ARBOR

Personal Author(s):

• Feister, S.
• Nees, J. A.
• Morrison, J. T.
• Frische, K. D.
• Orban, C.
• Chowdhury, E. A.
• Roquemore, W. M.

Report Date:

2014-07-17

Pagination or Media Count:

7.0

Abstract:

Ultra-intense laser-matter interaction experiments greater than 1018 Wcm2 with dense targets are highly sensitive to the effect of laser noise in the form of pre-pulses preceding the main ultra-intense pulse. These system-dependent pre-pulses in the nanosecond andor picosecond regimes are often intense enough to modify the target significantly by ionizing and forming a plasma layer in front of the target before the arrival of the main pulse. Time resolved interferometry offers a robust way to characterize the expanding plasma during this period. We have developed a novel pump-probe interferometry system for an ultra-intense laser experiment that uses two short-pulse amplifiers synchronized by one ultra-fast seed oscillator to achieve 40-fs time resolution over hundreds of nanoseconds, using a variable delay line and other techniques.

Descriptors:

• *INTERFEROMETRY
• *PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS
• *SHEAR PROPERTIES
• HIGH RESOLUTION
• LASERS
• NOISE
• PULSES
• TARGETS

Subject Categories:

• Optics
• Plasma Physics and Magnetohydrodynamics
• Mechanics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE