ECLIPSE: Miniaturization of Ultra-High-Power Laser Systems with Plasma Grating Chirped Pulse Amplification

ECLIPSE：采用等离子光栅啁啾脉冲放大的超高功率激光系统的小型化

• 批准号: 2308641
• 负责人: Matthew Edwards
• 金额: $ 48万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2026-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308641&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ECLIPSE; Miniaturization; Ultra; Power; Laser

This project explores the use of plasma elements in the construction of high-power laser systems. Lasers are an important tool for both fundamental science and commercial applications, but the light intensity delivered by the most powerful systems is limited by damage to their glass and metal optics. Plasma can withstand much higher light intensity than glass or other solid materials without being damaged. Plasma could therefore enable the miniaturization of ultra-high-power lasers, but taking advantage of this robustness in practical devices has proven difficult. This project uses detailed measurements of the optical properties of plasmas to improve the performance of plasma optics and integrate them into the design of short-pulse laser systems. Specific objectives are the improvement of plasma optic stability and the development of optics with properties suitable for use in larger systems. The overall goal is to develop laser architectures that integrate plasma components effectively, ultimately enabling higher power in smaller laser system footprints. This project will investigate the use of volumetric plasma transmission gratings in the design of chirped-pulse-amplification femtosecond laser systems, with the goal of developing architectures suitable for compact multi-petawatt lasers. Pump lasers can be used to shape plasmas with wavelength-scale optical-quality variations in density, allowing the creation of plasma transmission gratings and other diffractive optics. This type of plasma optic is relatively resilient to plasma density imperfections and further improvements in optical quality and stability could enable the replacement of solid-state diffraction gratings with plasma analogues, dramatically shrinking the size of the optics required for high-power femtosecond systems. This project focuses on the scientific and practical issues between demonstration of optical control with a plasma grating and the development of terawatt-scale plasma-based pulse compression, including grating stability, energy scaling, and the design of an optimal compressor architecture.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目探讨了等离子体元素在高功率激光系统构建中的使用。激光是基础科学和商业应用的重要工具，但是最强大的系统传递的光强度受到对其玻璃和金属光学元件的损害的限制。等离子体可以承受比玻璃或其他固体材料更高的光强度，而不会损坏。因此，等离子体可以使超高功率激光器的微型化，但是在实用设备中利用这种稳健性已被证明很困难。该项目使用等离子体的光学特性的详细测量来提高等离子光学的性能，并将其集成到短脉冲激光系统的设计中。具体的目标是改进血浆光学稳定性和具有适用于较大系统的属性的光学的开发。总体目标是开发有效整合等离子体成分的激光体系结构，最终在较小的激光系统足迹中实现更高的功率。该项目将调查体积等离子体传输光栅在设计的脉冲脉冲扩大飞机激光系统的设计中，其目的是开发适合紧凑型多云发光激光器的体系结构。泵激光器可用于塑造具有密度波长光学质量变化的等离子体，从而可以创建等离子传输光栅和其他衍射光学器件。这种类型的等离子光学元件对等离子体密度的缺陷相对弹性，光学质量和稳定性的进一步改善可以使用血浆类似物替换固态衍射光栅，从而大幅度地缩小了高功率高点龙杆菌系统所需的光学尺寸。该项目重点介绍了具有等离子体旋转的光学控制的演示与基于Terawatt-Scale等离子体基于的脉冲压缩的发展之间的科学和实用问题，包括光栅稳定性，能量缩放和最佳压缩机体系结构的设计。本奖项奖均反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估范围来反映了范围的范围。