Dispersive Properties of Plasma Diffraction Gratings: Towards Plasma-Based Laser Pulse Compression

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Perez-Ramirez, Victor M., Wang, Michelle M., Ou, Ke, Cao, Sida, Singh, Devdigvijay, Fasano, Nicholas M., Dewan, Vedin, Giakas, Andreas M., Das, Arunava, Tigges-Green, Isabelle, Michel, Pierre, Mikhailova, Julia M., Edwards, Matthew R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Perez-Ramirez, Victor M.
Wang, Michelle M.
Ou, Ke
Cao, Sida
Singh, Devdigvijay
Fasano, Nicholas M.
Dewan, Vedin
Giakas, Andreas M.
Das, Arunava
Tigges-Green, Isabelle
Michel, Pierre
Mikhailova, Julia M.
Edwards, Matthew R.
author_facet Perez-Ramirez, Victor M.
Wang, Michelle M.
Ou, Ke
Cao, Sida
Singh, Devdigvijay
Fasano, Nicholas M.
Dewan, Vedin
Giakas, Andreas M.
Das, Arunava
Tigges-Green, Isabelle
Michel, Pierre
Mikhailova, Julia M.
Edwards, Matthew R.
contents The standard architecture for a high-peak-power femtosecond laser is chirped pulse amplification using diffraction gratings for compression; the damage threshold of the compression gratings limits current lasers to multi-petawatt peak power. Plasma gratings have orders-of-magnitude higher damage tolerance than conventional optics, so plasma gratings with sufficiently high optical quality could allow the construction of ultra-high-power femtosecond lasers. Here, we present experimental measurements of the angular dispersion, angular bandwidth, and diffraction angles of ionization-based plasma transmission gratings and show that both the dispersive and the diffractive properties of these gratings are in close agreement with optical theory and simulations. Gratings with a period of 10.2 microns are found to have an angular dispersion of approximately 0.005 degrees/nm. The dispersion and bandwidth of these gratings suggest plausible designs for a plasma-grating-based compressor and indicate a pathway to compact lasers with petawatt to exawatt peak power.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_27165
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dispersive Properties of Plasma Diffraction Gratings: Towards Plasma-Based Laser Pulse Compression
Perez-Ramirez, Victor M.
Wang, Michelle M.
Ou, Ke
Cao, Sida
Singh, Devdigvijay
Fasano, Nicholas M.
Dewan, Vedin
Giakas, Andreas M.
Das, Arunava
Tigges-Green, Isabelle
Michel, Pierre
Mikhailova, Julia M.
Edwards, Matthew R.
Plasma Physics
Optics
The standard architecture for a high-peak-power femtosecond laser is chirped pulse amplification using diffraction gratings for compression; the damage threshold of the compression gratings limits current lasers to multi-petawatt peak power. Plasma gratings have orders-of-magnitude higher damage tolerance than conventional optics, so plasma gratings with sufficiently high optical quality could allow the construction of ultra-high-power femtosecond lasers. Here, we present experimental measurements of the angular dispersion, angular bandwidth, and diffraction angles of ionization-based plasma transmission gratings and show that both the dispersive and the diffractive properties of these gratings are in close agreement with optical theory and simulations. Gratings with a period of 10.2 microns are found to have an angular dispersion of approximately 0.005 degrees/nm. The dispersion and bandwidth of these gratings suggest plausible designs for a plasma-grating-based compressor and indicate a pathway to compact lasers with petawatt to exawatt peak power.
title Dispersive Properties of Plasma Diffraction Gratings: Towards Plasma-Based Laser Pulse Compression
topic Plasma Physics
Optics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.27165