Investigation of transient plasma photonic crystals

Since the first demonstration of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) in the mid-1980s, ultrashort pulse, high-peak-power lasers have been key to advancing research, often with societal importance. The next-generation facilities, such as Apollon, the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF) [3] and the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI), are based on 10s PW laser systems. These facilities will provide high-energy charged particle and photon beams that will be used as powerful time resolved research tools for the development of new technologies, such as novel cancer therapy, and probing dense matter for border security and the nuclear industry. A significant challenge in the design and operation of high-power laser facilities is the robustness of their optical components, which have damage thresholds on the order of 1 J cm−2 , which makes them bulky and expensive. Damage to these sensitive components can lead to costly maintenance and downtime that can severely disrupt facility operation. Plasma is an optically active medium, with the potential to replace optical components of high power lasers. It has a damage threshold several orders of magnitude greater than any solid state device, and is readily replenishable at the laser repetition rate. Numerous plasma-based optical device schemes have been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. For example, Raman and Brillouin amplification can yield high gain in probing laser pulses. Plasma mirrors are commonly used to increase the temporal contrast of intense laser pulses used for studying laser-solid interactions. Plasma waveguides are routinely used to guide high-power laser pulses and solid density plasma has been used as a source of high-harmonics. Plasma holograms have been used to manipulate the mode structure of laser beams.