| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/A00560/01 |
| Title: |
AF: HIGH HARMONIC GENERATION & LASER-CLUSTER INTERACTI ONS USING HIGH-INTENSITY, SHORT-PULSE LASERS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Tisch, Professor J |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Physics |
| Organisation: |
Imperial College London |
| Scheme: |
Advanced Fellowship (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 April 2000 |
Ends: |
30 September 2003 |
Value (£): |
114,548
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Plasmas - Laser & Fusion |
Scattering & Spectroscopy |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Abstract: I am seeking an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship to permit me to expand my investigations of the interaction of very high intensity laser pulses with matter, specifically in the field of high harmonic generation (HHG) and the very new field of laser-cluster interactions. I have already made internationally recognised contributions to these new and exciting fields and the combination of my expertise, my vision for future research directions and the unique resources available to me in the Laser Consortium at Imperial College would result in an extremely productive and successful Fellowship period.The research that I am proposing is possible because of the development over the last decade of shortpulse chirped pulse amplification lasers, such as the two terawatt (1012 W) class systems in the our laboratories. These lasers can be focused to intensities in the range 1013-1019 Wcm-2, which permits experiments in laser-matter interactions in the previously inaccessible regime where the field of the laser becomes comparable to, or even greatly exceeds the atomic field strength. Light-atom interactions in this regime are highly nonperturbative, and the very high energy density plasmas produced at these intensities are unique. This has lead to many new and unexpected phenomena, such as the two interrelated themes of this research proposal; the production of short-pulse, coherent, soft X-rays through the process of high-order harmonic generation, and the recently discovered super-energetic interaction of intense laser pulses with large van der Waals clusters of atoms. In both of these fields, there are many new and fundamental issues to be investigated, making them extremely fertile areas for research.In this proposal, I outline a programme of research which has as its aim the investigation of some of these important basic physical issues. In the area of HHG, my research plans include the study of a new topic, HHG in cluster media, as well as investigations of atomic dipole phase effects. My goal is also to exploit the increased understanding of the basic processes in order to optimise the properties of the high harmonic radiation for potential applications, for example, by using novel phase-matching ideas to dramatically increase the high harmonic conversion efficiency. The major objectives of my intense laser-cluster interaction research are to study the incoherent X-ray production in hot cluster plasmas, to optimise the super-heating of clusters, to investigate high charge state, heavy ion production, and to explore the exciting possibility of thermonuclear fusion in hot deuterium plasmas produced by the short pulse, high intensity irradiation of deuterium clusters.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.imperial.ac.uk |