Harnessing carbon plasma for extreme photonics and advanced materials

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Scientists are currently developing flashes of intense, ultrafast X-rays to open up areas of research that were previously inaccessible, providing new knowledge of the ultrasmall (at the atomic level) and the ultrafast. The present frontier of the ultrafast involves times of attoseconds (10^-18 s = one quintillionth of a second), which is the timescale of the motion of electrons bound inside the atom. The physics of attosecond pulse generation and related fields in attoscience has shown incredible progress. However, we are currently facing a new grand challenge in attosecond science, that is, to move beyond simple observation, and to study new technologies that will enable the direction and control of matter and energy at the attosecond timescale. For this purpose, various methods to generate intense attosecond pulses of radiation are being actively studied, with a nonlinear process known as high-order harmonic generation (HHG) leading the way. The most popular medium to study HHG has been up to now gas. However, T. Ozaki has recently demonstrated that carbon plasma is an especially efficient medium for HHG, and that it also exhibits unique features that have never been observed with gas media, such as the large wavelength shift and tunability of the harmonics. In the proposed Strategic project, we will capitalize on such recent findings by T. Ozaki's group, and work with two Canadian companies to develop a highly stable, static carbon plasma device, which could be used to generate intense, single attosecond pulses that also have wavelength tunability. Such a radiation source would be absolutely unique in the world, assuring leadership of Canadian industry as well as Canadian science and technology. The exchange and co-direction of students and postdoctoral fellows among university and industry will also allow these Highly Qualified Personnel to be well prepared for the optics and photonics job market.