Double plasma mirror for ultrahigh temporal contrast ultraintense laser pulses.
We present and characterize a very efficient optical device that employs the plasma mirror technique to increase the contrast of high-power laser systems. Contrast improvements higher than 10(4) with 50% transmission are shown to be routinely achieved on a typical 10 TW laser system when the pulse is reflected on two consecutive plasma mirrors. Used at the end of the laser system, this double plasma mirror preserves the spatial profile of the initial beam, is unaffected by shot-to-shot fluctuations, and is suitable for most high peak power laser systems. We use the generation of high-order harmonics as an effective test for the contrast improvement produced by the double plasma mirrors.
Lévy
Anna
A
Service des Photons, Atomes et Molécules, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France.
Ceccotti
Tiberio
T
D'Oliveira
Pascal
P
Réau
Fabrice
F
Perdrix
Michel
M
Quéré
Fabien
F
Monot
Pascal
P
Bougeard
Michel
M
Lagadec
Hervé
H
Martin
Philippe
P
Geindre
Jean-Paul
JP
Audebert
Patrick
P