| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R65947/01 |
| Title: |
OPTICAL PROBING INVESTIGATIONS OF ULTRASHORT LASER PULSE PROPAGATION THROUGH PLASMAS |
| Principal Investigator: |
Borghesi, Professor M |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Sch of Mathematics and Physics |
| Organisation: |
Queen's University of Belfast |
| Scheme: |
Fast Stream |
| Starts: |
03 December 2001 |
Ends: |
02 September 2005 |
Value (£): |
61,026
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Lasers & Optics |
Plasmas - Laser & Fusion |
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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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Beside being of interest for important applications, the interaction of ultraintense laser pulses with plasmas provides experimenters with the uniqu possibility of studying the collective nonlinear dynamics of a macroscopic system in the relativistic regime. Recently, a novel route to relativist intensities has been opened up by a new class of lasers, producing pulses with modest energy content (a few 100 mJ), but ultrashort duration (30-10 femtoseconds). The study of the interaction physics in this regime, substantially different and cleaner than in longer pulse regimes, is present attracting great scientific attention, and is generating the need for suitable diagnostics. For example, optical probing diagnostics, and in particula conventional interferometric techniques have to face constraints imposed by the short coherence length of the laser pulses. We propose to adal existing interferometric techniques and to develop novel semi-numerical diagnostic methods for use in femtosecond interaction experiments. A upgrade of existing laser facilities at our University will produce10 mJ, - 100 fs pulses to be used for testing these diagnostics. The technique developed will be finally employed in an ultraintense interaction experiment, in order to diagnose the yet unexplored propagation dynamics of sub-1001 pulses in underdense plasmas, and investigate issues such as self-channelling and filamentation.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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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 |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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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.qub.ac.uk |