Investigation of Nonlinear Wave Collapse with Ultrashort Laser Pulses

本实验和理论研究项目涉及研究高功率飞秒激光脉冲在光学透明介质中的非线性传输，在这种情况下，脉冲经历了波崩塌，从而发生了时间和空间自由度的强耦合。要探索的现象是径向和方位向极化场的传播动力学，以及自旋和角动量通过自聚焦的非线性耦合。在光学介质的正常和反常群速度区中，将探索三维坍塌，并将研究10秒以下飞秒激光脉冲的传播，包括压缩到单周期脉冲。这项研究将对超快激光科学产生直接的科学影响，包括飞秒激光损伤、脉冲在空气中的传播，以及超短脉冲在气体中的参数和谐波产生。更广泛的影响包括PIS实验室的研究生和本科生的教育拟议的研究将对其他科学分支产生更广泛的影响，如非线性动力学、流体力学、等离子体物理、原子物理和飞秒激光脉冲遥感。除了研究生和本科生的教育外，该计划对教育的更广泛影响包括通过NSF资助的纳米系统中心的物理教师研究所(CIPT)开展的外联活动，以及向高中教师和学生提供与光学相关的研讨会。

This experimental and theoretical research project involves the study of the nonlinear propagation of high-power femtosecond laser pulses in optically transparent media under conditions in which the pulse undergoes wave collapse such that strong coupling of the temporal and spatial degrees of freedom occurs. The phenomena to be explored is the propagation dynamics of radially- and azimuthally-polarized fields and the nonlinear coupling of spin and angular momentum via self-focusing. Three-dimensional collapse will be explored in the normal and anomalous group-velocity regimes of the optical medium, and studies will be undertaken on the propagation of sub-10 femtosecond laser pulses including compression down to single-cycle pulses. The research will have direct scientific impact on ultrafast laser science, including femtosecond laser damage, pulse propagation in air, and parametric and harmonic generation in gases with ultrashort pulses. The broader impacts include the education of graduate students and undergraduates in the PIs laboratoryThe proposed research will have a broader impact on other branches of science, such as nonlinear dynamics, hydrodynamics, plasma physics, atomic physics, and remote sensing with femtosecond laser pulses. In addition to the education of graduate and undergraduate students, educational broader impacts of the program involve outreach activities via the NSF-funded Center for Nanoscale Systems' Institute for Physics Teachers (CIPT) as well as the delivery of optics related seminars to high-school teachers and students.