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We present a study on the improvement of the spatial quality of a laser beam, called modal filtering, suitable to high-energy lasers. The method is theoretically compared with the classical pinhole filtering technique in the case of an astigmatic Gaussian beam, illustrating, in this particular case, its efficiency for filtering low spatial frequencies. Experimental study of the modal filtering of a temporally chirped beam from a Ti:Sapphire chirped-pulse-amplification system is presented. Beam profile, wavefront and pulse duration after compression were measured, showing a dramatic improvement of beam quality and no modifications of the temporal distribution. High-order harmonic generation in a rare gas, a highly nonlinear process which is phase-matching dependent, was used to test the effect of the filter and showed a clear enhancement of the generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High harmonic radiation, produced when intense laser pulses interact with matter, is composed of a train of attosecond pulses. Individual pulses in this train carry information on ultrafast dynamics that vary from one half-optical-cycle to the next. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical photonic streaking measurement that provides direct experimental access to each attosecond pulse by mapping emission time onto propagation angle. This is achieved by inducing an ultrafast rotation of the instantaneous laser wavefront at the focus. We thus time-resolve attosecond pulse train generation, and hence the dynamics in the nonlinear medium itself. We apply photonic streaking to harmonic generation in gases and directly observe, for the first time, the influence of non-adiabatic electron dynamics and plasma formation on the generated attosecond pulse train. These experimental and numerical results also provide the first evidence of the generation of attosecond lighthouses in gases, which constitute ideal sources for attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new method to improve the temporal contrast of an ultra-short laser pulse has been developed. This technique uses a Sagnac interferometer in combination with a non-linear medium. A phase shift induced in the ultra-short pulse by non-linear effect separates it from the amplified spontaneous emission background. Experiments with a 1kHz, 55fs, 1mJ Ti:Sa laser were performed. The temporal contrast measurements have shown a contrast improvement of four orders of magnitude. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]