Phys.org May 6, 2021
A team of researchers in South Korea demonstrated laser intensity exceeding 1023W/cm2 with the CoReLS petawatt (PW) laser. After wavefront correction and tight focusing with a two-stage adaptive optical system and an f/1.1 (=300mm) off-axis parabolic mirror, they obtained near diffraction-limited focusing with a spot size of 1.1 µm (FWHM). From the measurement of 80 consecutive laser shots at 0.1 Hz, they achieved a peak intensity of (1.1±0.2)×1023W/cm2, verifying the applicability of the ultrahigh intensity PW laser for ultrahigh intensity laser–matter interactions. From the statistical analysis of the PW laser shots, they identified that the intensity fluctuation originated from air turbulence in the laser beam path and beam pointing. The research could accelerate the study of strong field quantum electrodynamics…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Wavefront maps measured at the target chamber with WFS2: (a) before the wavefront correction Credit: Optica Vol. 8, Issue 5, pp. 630-635 (2021)Â