Investigation of the thermally induced laser beam distortion associated with vacuum compressor gratings in high energy and high average power femtosecond laser systems

Automated control and stabilization of ultrabroadband laser pulse angular dispersion

We present an innovative automatic control of angular dispersion for high-power laser systems. A novel, to the best of our knowledge, diagnostic has been developed to visualize angular dispersion in ultrashort near-infrared laser pulses for on-shot analysis. The output of a commercial ultrabroadband oscillator was prepared with an arbitrary chromatic dispersion and sent through a compensation system composed of 4° glass wedges in motorized mounts. These wedges were rotationally controlled in discrete steps about the beam axis in accordance with the diagnostic, via an automated feedback loop, to successfully eliminate angular dispersion to a precision of 5 nrad/nm. The system can be implemented to maintain a zero or nonzero target dispersion for experiments.

Advantages of out-of-plane pulse compression gratings

Diffraction gratings for pulse compression generally perform best at the Littrow angle, but reflection gratings require a nonzero deviation angle to separate the incident and diffracted beams, so they cannot be used at the Littrow angle. In this paper, we show both theoretically and experimentally that most practical multilayer dielectric (MLD) and gold reflection grating designs can be used with quite substantial beam-deviation angles-as large as even 30°-by mounting the grating out-of-plane and choosing the optimal polarization. The impact of polarization when mounting out-of-plane is explained and quantified.

Modeling, experimental validation, and model order reduction of mirror thermal dynamics

A large variety of optical systems and devices are highly sensitive to temperature variations and gradients induced by the absorption of thermal energy. Temperature gradients developed across optical elements, mounts, and supporting structures can lead to thermally induced wavefront aberrations and, consequently, to the reduction of optical performance. Consequently, modeling, estimation, and control of thermal dynamics are important problems that need to be carefully addressed by optical system designers. However, the development of accurate and experimentally validated models of thermal dynamics that are suitable for prediction, estimation, and control is a challenging problem. The main modeling challenges originate from model uncertainties, nonlinearities, and the fact that the thermal dynamics is inherently large-dimensional. In this manuscript, we present a synergistic modeling framework that combines first-principle heat transfer modeling, experimental validation, finite element techniques, and model order reduction techniques. We experimentally validate our approach on a recently developed 8-inch mirror prototype equipped with heaters and temperature sensors. We are able to accurately predict the temperature transients lasting for several hours. Furthermore, we apply our modeling approach to a parabolic mirror with an optimized honeycomb back structure. We investigate how the choice of mirror materials, such as aluminum, beryllium, Zerodur, and ULE, influence the ability to derive reduced-order models. Our results show that mirror thermal dynamics can be approximated by low-order state-space models. The modeling approach used in this manuscript is relevant for the prediction, estimation, and control of thermal dynamics and thermally induced aberrations in optical systems. MATLAB, COMSOL Multiphysics, and LiveLink codes used in this manuscript are available online.

Modeling and system identification of transient STOP models of optical systems

Structural, Thermal, and Optical Performance (STOP) analysis is important for understanding the dynamics and for predicting the performance of a large number of optical systems whose proper functioning is negatively influenced by thermally induced aberrations. Furthermore, STOP models are being used to design and test passive and active methods for the compensation of thermally induced aberrations. However, in many cases and scenarios, the lack of precise knowledge of system parameters and equations governing the dynamics of thermally induced aberrations can significantly deteriorate the prediction accuracy of STOP models. In such cases, STOP models and underlying parameters need to be estimated from the data. To the best of our knowledge, the problem of estimating transient state-space STOP models from the experimental data has not received significant attention. Similarly, little attention has been dedicated to the related problem of obtaining low-dimensional state-space models of thermally induced aberrations that can be used for the design of high-performance model-based control and estimation algorithms. Motivated by this, in this manuscript, we present a numerical proof of principle for estimating low-dimensional state-space models of thermally induced aberrations and for characterizing the transient dynamics. Our approach is based on the COMSOL Multiphysics simulation framework for generating the test data and on a system identification approach. We numerically test our method on a lens system with a temperature-dependent refractive index that is used in high-power laser systems. The dynamics of such a system is complex and described by the coupling of thermal, structural, and ray-tracing models. The approach proposed in this paper can be generalized to other types of optical systems.

Wavefront degradation of a 200 TW laser from heat-induced deformation of in-vacuum compressor gratings

High-repetition-rate high-power laser systems induce a high average power heat deposition into the gold-coated diffraction gratings. To study the effects of the thermal expansion of in-vacuum Pyrex gratings on the laser properties, we scan the pulse energy and repetition rate of a 200 TW laser system while monitoring the laser wavefront. Through the measured changes in laser divergence and focusability, we define an average power limit below which the in-vacuum compressor can be used with no degradation of the laser focus quality.

Active cooling of pulse compression diffraction gratings for high energy, high average power ultrafast lasers

Laser energy absorption and subsequent heat removal from diffraction gratings in chirped pulse compressors poses a significant challenge in high repetition rate, high peak power laser development. In order to understand the average power limitations, we have modeled the time-resolved thermo-mechanical properties of current and advanced diffraction gratings. We have also developed and demonstrated a technique of actively cooling Petawatt scale, gold compressor gratings to operate at 600W of average power - a 15x increase over the highest average power petawatt laser currently in operation. Combining this technique with low absorption multilayer dielectric gratings developed in our group would enable pulse compressors for petawatt peak power lasers operating at average powers well above 40kW.

Long-term operation of surface high-harmonic generation from relativistic oscillating mirrors using a spooling tape

Surface high-harmonic generation in the relativistic regime is demonstrated as a source of extreme ultra-violet (XUV) pulses with extended operation time. Relativistic high-harmonic generation is driven by a frequency-doubled high-power Ti:Sapphire laser focused to a peak intensity of 3·10(19) W/cm2 onto spooling tapes. We demonstrate continuous operation over up to one hour runtime at a repetition rate of 1 Hz. Harmonic spectra ranging from 20 eV to 70 eV (62 nm to 18 nm) were consecutively recorded by an XUV spectrometer. An average XUV pulse energy in the µJ range is measured. With the presented setup, relativistic surface high-harmonic generation becomes a powerful source of coherent XUV pulses that might enable applications in, e.g. attosecond laser physics and the seeding of free-electron lasers, when the laser issues causing 80-% pulse energy fluctuations are overcome.

A K-alpha x-ray source using high energy and high repetition rate laser system for phase contrast imaging

K-alpha x-ray sources from laser produced plasmas provide completely new possibilities for x-ray phase-contrast imaging applications. By tightly focusing intense femtosecond laser pulses onto a solid target K-alpha x-ray pulses are generated through the interaction of energetic electrons created in the plasma with the bulk target. In this paper, we present a continuous and efficient Mo K-alpha x-ray source produced by a femtosecond laser system operating at 100 Hz repetition rate with maximum pulse energy of 110 mJ before compression. The source has an x-ray conversion efficiency of greater than 10(-5) into K-alpha line emission. In preparation for phase contrast imaging applications, the size of the resultant K-alpha x-ray emission spot has been also characterized. The source exhibits sufficient spatial coherence to observe phase contrast. We observe a relatively small broadening of the K-alpha source size compared to the size of the laser beam itself. Detailed characterization of the source including the x-ray spectrum and the x-ray average yield along with phase contrast images of test objects will be presented.