Spatiotemporal control of laser intensity through cross-phase modulation

Abstract

Spatiotemporal pulse shaping provides control over the trajectory and range of an intensity peak. While this control can enhance laser-based applications, the optical configurations required for shaping the pulse can constrain the transverse or temporal profile, duration, or orbital angular momentum (OAM). Here we present a novel technique for spatiotemporal control that mitigates these constraints by using a "stencil" pulse to spatiotemporally structure a second, primary pulse through cross-phase modulation (XPM) in a Kerr lens. The temporally shaped stencil pulse induces a time-dependent focusing phase within the primary pulse. This technique, the "flying focus X," allows the primary pulse to have any profile or OAM, expanding the flexibility of spatiotemporal pulse shaping for laser-based applications. As an example, simulations show that the flying focus X can deliver an arbitrary-velocity, variable-duration intensity peak with OAM over distances much longer than a Rayleigh range.

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Cited by in corpus (11)

• Nonlinear Thomson scattering with ponderomotive control
• Arbitrarily Structured Laser Pulses
• Exact solutions for the electromagnetic fields of a flying focus
• Laser wakefield acceleration of ions with a transverse flying focus
• Signatures of vacuum birefringence in low-power flying focus pulses
• Charged particle beam transport in a flying focus pulse with orbital angular momentum
• Programmable Focal Elongation and Shaping of High-Intensity Laser Pulses using Adaptive Optics
• A comparative study of focusing with scalar and vector beams in an active Raman gain system
• Flying focus with arbitrary directionality for spatiotemporal control of laser pulses
• Enhanced quantum radiation with flying-focus laser pulses
• High-charge relativistic electrons by vacuum laser acceleration from plasma mirrors using flying focus pulses