Relativistic laser-plasma physics and advanced plasma optics

相对论激光等离子体物理学和先进等离子体光学

• 批准号: 2189469
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Strathclyde
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2189469
• 关键词: Relativistic; laser; plasma; physics; advanced

Due to their compact nature and unique properties, intense laser-driven particle and radiation sources have transformative potential for application in many areas of science and society. Central to the development of this enabling technology is the exploitation of nonlinear optical phenomena that are produced when plasma electrons interacting with the laser gain relativistic velocities. These physical processes will dominate light-matter interactions at next-generation laser facilities, e.g. the extreme light infrastructure (ELI).The project involves a programme of experiments and coupled simulations to investigate relativistic laser-plasma interaction phenomena, and their use in controlling charged particle and radiation generation, in ultrathin foil targets irradiated by ultraintense laser pulses. It will also involve the development and application of advanced designs for plasma optics, including ellipsoidal reflective surfaces to tightly focus relativistically intense laser light. The project exploits recent breakthroughs by our team, including relativistic transparency in ultrathin foils (Nature Physics 12, 505 (2016)) and its use in manipulating plasma particle motion (Nature Communications, 7, 12891 (2016)) and acceleration physics (Nature Communications, At press (2018)). It will explore the physics underpinning the development of relativistic plasma photonics, to enable tuneable spatial, temporal and polarisation control of laser pulses at ultrahigh intensity. The project involves experimental investigations using the new 350TW SCAPA laser in Physics and external lasers at the Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire. It also involves simulations of intense laser-plasma interactions using the ARCHER and ARCHIE-WeSt high performance computers.The objectives are:1. Investigate the influence of a relativistic plasma aperture on the properties of ultraintense laser light2. Investigate the potential to control field evolution and particle acceleration in relativistically transparent targets.

由于其紧凑的性质和独特的性质，强激光驱动的粒子和辐射源在科学和社会的许多领域具有变革性的应用潜力。这种使能技术发展的核心是利用等离子体电子与激光器相互作用时产生的非线性光学现象获得相对论速度。这些物理过程将主导下一代激光设施（例如极端光基础设施（ELI））中的光与物质相互作用。该项目涉及一项实验和耦合模拟计划，以研究相对论性激光与等离子体相互作用现象，及其在控制带电粒子和辐射产生中的用途。在超薄箔目标中受到超强激光脉冲的照射。它还将涉及等离子体光学器件的先进设计的开发和应用，包括椭圆形反射表面，以紧密聚焦相对论强度的激光。该项目利用了我们团队最近的突破，包括超薄箔中的相对论透明度（《自然物理》12，505（2016））及其在操纵等离子体粒子运动中的应用（《自然通讯》，7，12891（2016））和加速物理学（《自然通讯》，待出版（2018））。它将探索相对论等离子体光子学发展的物理基础，以实现可调谐的空间，时间和偏振控制的激光脉冲在10000强度。该项目涉及使用新的350 TW SCAPA激光器在物理学和外部激光器在牛津郡的中央激光设施的实验研究。本文还利用ARCHER和ARCHIE-WEST高性能计算机模拟了强激光与等离子体的相互作用。研究相对论等离子体孔径对超强激光特性的影响2。研究在相对论透明靶中控制场演化和粒子加速的潜力。