Improving coherent contrast of petawatt laser pulses

doi:10.1364/OE.19.002193

Improving coherent contrast of petawatt laser pulses

Chris Hooker, Yunxin Tang, Oleg Chekhlov, John Collier, Edwin Divall, Klaus Ertel, Steve Hawkes, Bryn Parry, and P. P. Rajeev »View Author Affiliations

Optics Express, Vol. 19, Issue 3, pp. 2193-2203 (2011)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.19.002193

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Abstract
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Abstract

We report on an experimental study of the “coherent” contrast feature that frequently appears in petawatt(PW)-class laser pulses as an exponentially-rising pedestal within a few tens of picoseconds of the compressed pulse. We show that scattering from the diffraction gratings in the stretcher is the principal source of this feature. Replacing the gratings by new, higher-quality components resulted in an order-of-magnitude reduction in the intensity of the pedestal.

OCIS Codes
(050.0050) Diffraction and gratings : Diffraction and gratings
(290.5880) Scattering : Scattering, rough surfaces
(320.5520) Ultrafast optics : Pulse compression

ToC Category:
Ultrafast Optics

History
Original Manuscript: November 23, 2010
Revised Manuscript: January 14, 2011
Manuscript Accepted: January 14, 2011
Published: January 20, 2011

Citation
Chris Hooker, Yunxin Tang, Oleg Chekhlov, John Collier, Edwin Divall, Klaus Ertel, Steve Hawkes, Bryn Parry, and P. P. Rajeev, "Improving coherent contrast of petawatt laser pulses," Opt. Express 19, 2193-2203 (2011)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-19-3-2193

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References

D. Neely, P. Foster, A. Robinson, F. Lindau, O. Lundh, A. Persson, C.-G. Wahlström, and P. McKenna, “Enhanced proton beams from ultrathin targets driven by high contrast laser pulses,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 021502 (2006). [CrossRef]
C. Hernandez-Gomez, S. P. Blake, O. Chekhlov, R. J. Clarke, A. M. Dunne, M. Galimberti, S. Hancock, R. Heathcote, P. Holligan, A. Lyachev, P. Matousek, I. O. Musgrave, D. Neely, P. A. Norreys, I. Ross, Y. Tang, T. B. Winstone, B. E. Wyborn, and J. Collier, “The Vulcan 10 PW Project,” J. Phys. 244, 032006 (2010). [CrossRef]
http://www.extreme-light-infrastructure.eu.
D. Strickland, and G. Mourou, “Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses,” Opt. Commun. 56, 219–221 (1985). [CrossRef]
M. P. Kalashnikov, E. Risse, H. Schönnagel, and W. Sandner, “Double chirped-pulse-amplification laser: a way to clean pulses temporally,” Opt. Lett. 30, 923–925 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
A. Jullien, O. Albert, F. Burgy, G. Hamoniaux, J.-P. Rousseau, J.-P. Chambaret, F. Aúge-Rochereau, G. Cheriaux, J. Etchepare, N. Minkovski, and S. M. Saltiel, “10−10 temporal contrast for femtosecond ultraintense lasers by cross-polarized wave generation,” Opt. Lett. 30, 920–922 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
A. Lévy, T. Ceccotti, P. D’Oliveira, F. Réau, M. Perdrix, F. Quéré, P. Monot, M. Bougeard, H. Lagadec, P. Martin, J.-P. Geindre, and P. Audebert, “Double plasma mirror for ultrahigh temporal contrast ultraintense laser pulses,” Opt. Lett. 32, 310–312 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
H. P. Weber, and R. Dändliker, “Method for measurement the shape asymmetry of picosecond light pulses,” Phys. Lett. 28A, 77–78 (1968).
M. Kalashnikov, K. Osvay, and W. Sandner, “High-power Ti:sapphire lasers: temporal contrast and spectral narrowing,” Laser Part. Beams 25, 219–223 (2007). [CrossRef]
K. H. Hong, B. Hou, J. A. Nees, E. Power, and G. Mourou, “Generation and measurement of > 108 intensity contrast ratio in a relativistic kHz chirped-pulse amplified laser,” Appl. Phys. B 81, 447–457 (2005). [CrossRef]
K. Osvay, M. Csatari, I. N. Ross, A. Persson, and C.-G. Wahlström, “On the temporal contrast of high intensity femtoseconds laser pulses,” Laser Part. Beams 23, 327–332 (2005). [CrossRef]
D. N. Schimpf, E. Seise, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann, “Decrease of pulse-contrast in nonlinear chirped-pulse amplification systems due to high-frequency spectral phase ripples,” Opt. Express 16, 8876–8886 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
V. Bagnoud, and F. Salin, “Influence of optical quality on chirped-pulse amplification: characterization of a 150-nm-bandwidth stretcher,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16, 188–193 (1999). [CrossRef]
C. Dorrer, and J. Bromage, “Impact of high-frequency spectral phase modulation on the temporal profile of short optical pulses,” Opt. Express 16, 3058–3068 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
I. N. Ross, A. J. Langley, and P. Taday, “A Simple Achromatic Pulse Stretcher,” CLF Annual Report 201–203 (1999–2000), RAL-TR-2000–034.
J. C. Stover, Optical Scattering Measurement and Analysis, 2nd. ed. (SPIE Publications. 1995), ISBN13: 9780819477767. [CrossRef]
M. Kalashnikov, A. Andreev, and H. Schönnagel, “Limits of the temporal contrast for CPA lasers with beams of high aperture,” Proc. SPIE 7501, 750104 (2009). [CrossRef]

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[1] D. Neely, P. Foster, A. Robinson, F. Lindau, O. Lundh, A. Persson, C.-G. Wahlström, and P. McKenna, “Enhanced proton beams from ultrathin targets driven by high contrast laser pulses,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 021502 (2006). [CrossRef]

[2] C. Hernandez-Gomez, S. P. Blake, O. Chekhlov, R. J. Clarke, A. M. Dunne, M. Galimberti, S. Hancock, R. Heathcote, P. Holligan, A. Lyachev, P. Matousek, I. O. Musgrave, D. Neely, P. A. Norreys, I. Ross, Y. Tang, T. B. Winstone, B. E. Wyborn, and J. Collier, “The Vulcan 10 PW Project,” J. Phys. 244, 032006 (2010). [CrossRef]

[3] http://www.extreme-light-infrastructure.eu.

[4] D. Strickland, and G. Mourou, “Compression of amplified chirped optical pulses,” Opt. Commun. 56, 219–221 (1985). [CrossRef]

[5] M. P. Kalashnikov, E. Risse, H. Schönnagel, and W. Sandner, “Double chirped-pulse-amplification laser: a way to clean pulses temporally,” Opt. Lett. 30, 923–925 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[6] A. Jullien, O. Albert, F. Burgy, G. Hamoniaux, J.-P. Rousseau, J.-P. Chambaret, F. Aúge-Rochereau, G. Cheriaux, J. Etchepare, N. Minkovski, and S. M. Saltiel, “10−10 temporal contrast for femtosecond ultraintense lasers by cross-polarized wave generation,” Opt. Lett. 30, 920–922 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[7] A. Lévy, T. Ceccotti, P. D’Oliveira, F. Réau, M. Perdrix, F. Quéré, P. Monot, M. Bougeard, H. Lagadec, P. Martin, J.-P. Geindre, and P. Audebert, “Double plasma mirror for ultrahigh temporal contrast ultraintense laser pulses,” Opt. Lett. 32, 310–312 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[8] H. P. Weber, and R. Dändliker, “Method for measurement the shape asymmetry of picosecond light pulses,” Phys. Lett. 28A, 77–78 (1968).

[9] M. Kalashnikov, K. Osvay, and W. Sandner, “High-power Ti:sapphire lasers: temporal contrast and spectral narrowing,” Laser Part. Beams 25, 219–223 (2007). [CrossRef]

[10] K. H. Hong, B. Hou, J. A. Nees, E. Power, and G. Mourou, “Generation and measurement of > 108 intensity contrast ratio in a relativistic kHz chirped-pulse amplified laser,” Appl. Phys. B 81, 447–457 (2005). [CrossRef]

[11] K. Osvay, M. Csatari, I. N. Ross, A. Persson, and C.-G. Wahlström, “On the temporal contrast of high intensity femtoseconds laser pulses,” Laser Part. Beams 23, 327–332 (2005). [CrossRef]

[12] D. N. Schimpf, E. Seise, J. Limpert, and A. Tünnermann, “Decrease of pulse-contrast in nonlinear chirped-pulse amplification systems due to high-frequency spectral phase ripples,” Opt. Express 16, 8876–8886 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[13] V. Bagnoud, and F. Salin, “Influence of optical quality on chirped-pulse amplification: characterization of a 150-nm-bandwidth stretcher,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 16, 188–193 (1999). [CrossRef]

[14] C. Dorrer, and J. Bromage, “Impact of high-frequency spectral phase modulation on the temporal profile of short optical pulses,” Opt. Express 16, 3058–3068 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

[15] I. N. Ross, A. J. Langley, and P. Taday, “A Simple Achromatic Pulse Stretcher,” CLF Annual Report 201–203 (1999–2000), RAL-TR-2000–034.

[16] J. C. Stover, Optical Scattering Measurement and Analysis, 2nd. ed. (SPIE Publications. 1995), ISBN13: 9780819477767. [CrossRef]

[17] M. Kalashnikov, A. Andreev, and H. Schönnagel, “Limits of the temporal contrast for CPA lasers with beams of high aperture,” Proc. SPIE 7501, 750104 (2009). [CrossRef]

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Improving coherent contrast of petawatt laser pulses