![]() ![]() Michel, “Plasma transmission gratings for compression of high-intensity laser pulses,” Phys. Matteo Rini is the Editor of Physics Magazine. Using this diagram and trigonometry, the diffraction grating equation can be derived. “We are hopeful that these results will soon lead to a proof-of-principle demonstration of an all-plasma laser design,” Edwards says. What makes them particularly useful is the fact that they form a. Working with another team, Edwards and Michel are already running experimental tests that suggest that plasma gratings with the required parameters can be built. Diffraction gratings are commonly used for spectroscopic dispersion and analysis of light. The spectral resolution of the grating is investigated. It could also enable the building of lasers with 100 times more power than current systems but with the same size. A concave grating in a Rowland mount is used to determine the Rydberg constant for atomic hydrogen. The predictions indicate that such a grating would have a damage threshold over 10,000 times higher than that of a conventional grating. Such gratings could substitute the solid gratings currently used to compress laser pulses and boost their peak power to petawatt levels.Ĭombining analytical calculations and numerical simulations, Edwards and Michel show that a plasma grating could be created by shining low-power lasers onto a plasma to induce a small, periodic modulation in the plasma’s refractive index. But researchers have yet to demonstrate other components key to engineering a short-pulse plasma laser, including plasma gratings. ![]() Today, plasma optics, such as mirrors, are commonly used at petawatt laser facilities. Very fine parallel lines have been traced with a diamond stylus across the surface of the glass. Gratings diffract light, meaning they split the white light into all of its components, similar to a triangular prism. Now Matthew Edwards of Stanford University and Pierre Michel of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, theorize that high-power lasers could be built using optics made of plasma, which can withstand much-higher-intensity beams than conventional materials. Pulse damage of the optical components used in these lasers, however, limits the highest achievable power and makes these systems extremely bulky-the laser beams must have large widths to prevent damage. Such powerful pulses can be used to accelerate particles, create antimatter jets, and generate x-ray beams. “Petawatt” lasers emit pulses whose power-for an instant-vastly exceeds the average power of the entire US electric grid.
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