A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers
Abstract Exceptional pulse contrast can be critical for ultraintense laser experiments, particularly when using solid density targets, and their use is becoming widespread. However, current plasma mirror technology is becoming inadequate for the new generation of high repetition rate, high power las...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07016-3 |
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| author | Nick Czapla Derek M. Nasir Lieselotte Obst-Huebl Anthony Zingale Jianhui Bin Anthony J. Gonsalves Sven Steinke Kei Nakamura Carl B. Schroeder Eric Esarey Cameron G. R. Geddes Douglass W. Schumacher |
| author_facet | Nick Czapla Derek M. Nasir Lieselotte Obst-Huebl Anthony Zingale Jianhui Bin Anthony J. Gonsalves Sven Steinke Kei Nakamura Carl B. Schroeder Eric Esarey Cameron G. R. Geddes Douglass W. Schumacher |
| author_sort | Nick Czapla |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Exceptional pulse contrast can be critical for ultraintense laser experiments, particularly when using solid density targets, and their use is becoming widespread. However, current plasma mirror technology is becoming inadequate for the new generation of high repetition rate, high power lasers now available. We describe a novel double plasma mirror configuration based on renewable, free standing, ultrathin liquid crystal films tested at the BELLA Petawatt Laser Center. Although operating at a repetition rate of several shots per minute, this system can be scaled to a high repetition rate exceeding 1 Hz and represents an important step towards enabling sustained, continuous operation of plasma mirrors. We demonstrate an improvement of two to three orders of magnitude in contrast and a total throughput of 80%. We present the first measurements of a beam reflected from a single or double plasma mirror system using a wavefront sensor, showing a well preserved wavefront and spatial mode. Finally, we introduce a model that predicts the total throughput through this double plasma mirror. This is the first model that accurately predicts the peak reflectivity of a plasma mirror when given the laser temporal profile. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b3b7d9e728434e5cbca39bc9235a50ec |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-b3b7d9e728434e5cbca39bc9235a50ec2025-08-20T03:45:26ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-07016-3A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasersNick Czapla0Derek M. Nasir1Lieselotte Obst-Huebl2Anthony Zingale3Jianhui Bin4Anthony J. Gonsalves5Sven Steinke6Kei Nakamura7Carl B. Schroeder8Eric Esarey9Cameron G. R. Geddes10Douglass W. Schumacher11SLAC National Accelerator LaboratoryPhysics Department, The Ohio State UniversityAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryPhysics Department, The Ohio State UniversityAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryAccelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryPhysics Department, The Ohio State UniversityAbstract Exceptional pulse contrast can be critical for ultraintense laser experiments, particularly when using solid density targets, and their use is becoming widespread. However, current plasma mirror technology is becoming inadequate for the new generation of high repetition rate, high power lasers now available. We describe a novel double plasma mirror configuration based on renewable, free standing, ultrathin liquid crystal films tested at the BELLA Petawatt Laser Center. Although operating at a repetition rate of several shots per minute, this system can be scaled to a high repetition rate exceeding 1 Hz and represents an important step towards enabling sustained, continuous operation of plasma mirrors. We demonstrate an improvement of two to three orders of magnitude in contrast and a total throughput of 80%. We present the first measurements of a beam reflected from a single or double plasma mirror system using a wavefront sensor, showing a well preserved wavefront and spatial mode. Finally, we introduce a model that predicts the total throughput through this double plasma mirror. This is the first model that accurately predicts the peak reflectivity of a plasma mirror when given the laser temporal profile.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07016-3 |
| spellingShingle | Nick Czapla Derek M. Nasir Lieselotte Obst-Huebl Anthony Zingale Jianhui Bin Anthony J. Gonsalves Sven Steinke Kei Nakamura Carl B. Schroeder Eric Esarey Cameron G. R. Geddes Douglass W. Schumacher A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers Scientific Reports |
| title | A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers |
| title_full | A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers |
| title_fullStr | A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers |
| title_full_unstemmed | A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers |
| title_short | A renewable double plasma mirror for Petawatt-class lasers |
| title_sort | renewable double plasma mirror for petawatt class lasers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07016-3 |
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