Optical Shock-Enhanced Self-Photon Acceleration

Abstract

Photon accelerators can spectrally broaden laser pulses with high efficiency in moving electron density gradients. When driven by a conventional laser pulse, the group velocity walk-off experienced by the accelerated photons and deterioration of the gradient from diffraction and refraction limit the extent of spectral broadening. Here we show that a laser pulse with a shaped space-time and transverse intensity profile overcomes these limitations by creating a guiding density profile at a tunable velocity. Self-photon acceleration in this profile leads to dramatic spectral broadening and intensity steepening, forming an optical shock that further enhances the rate of spectral broadening. In this new regime, multi-octave spectra extending from $400nm-60nm$ wavelengths, which support near-transform limited $<400as$ pulses, are generated over $<100\mu$m of interaction length.

References in corpus (8)

• High-energy pulse self-compression and ultraviolet generation through soliton dynamics in hollow capillary fibres
• Supercontinuum generation in the vacuum ultraviolet through dispersive-wave and soliton-plasma interaction in noble-gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber
• Photon Acceleration in a Flying Focus
• Ionization waves of arbitrary velocity driven by a flying focus
• Off-Axis Spiral Phase Mirrors for Generating High Intensity Optical Vortices
• Vacuum acceleration of electrons in a dynamic laser pulse
• Nonlinear spatiotemporal control of laser intensity
• Spatially resolved spectral phase interferometry with isolated attosecond pulse

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Spatiotemporal control of laser intensity through cross-phase modulation
• Exact solutions for the electromagnetic fields of a flying focus
• Self-compression of stimulated Raman backscattering by flying focus
• Simulation Design for Velocity-Controlled Spatio-Temporal Drivers in Laser Wakefield Acceleration
• High-charge relativistic electrons by vacuum laser acceleration from plasma mirrors using flying focus pulses