Lightwave engineering for on-site few-cycle pulse widths in high-peak-power laser-matter interaction optics

ABSTR A C T We demonstrate a multicompartment, power-scalable beam-line design in which sub-40-fs, terawatt field waveforms are tailored in space and time for downstream pulse compression to few-cycle pulse widths attained right at the site where the intense laser field interacts with a target. An accurate field-waveform characterization performed at multiple locations along the beam path shows that, despite all the complexity of their upstream nonlinear electrodynamics, field waveforms shorter than three field cycles can be delivered to a laser-matter interaction site in such a system, enabling a vast class of ultrafast strong-field laser-matter interaction studies.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates a multi-compartment, power-scalable beam-line design that allows tailored terawatt field waveforms for downstream pulse compression, enabling ultrafast strong-field laser-matter interaction studies with pulse widths of a few cycles. Despite complexities in upstream nonlinear electrodynamics, field waveforms shorter than three field cycles can be delivered to the interaction site.