Ultrahigh-Intensity Lasers:: Nonlinear Optics in the Relativistic Regime for Future Applications in Time-Resolved Chemistry

• Gerard Mourou ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

     University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

     City of Ann Arbor, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 75, Nº 5 (May), 1998, págs. 565-570
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) has revolutionized our ability to produce high-peak-power pulses. Ten-terawatt-range pulses with peak intensities in the 1019 - 1020-W/cm2 range can be produced by tabletop- or university-size systems. This new generation of ultraintense lasers four-to-five orders of magnitude higher in intensity gives us access to physical regimes. These regimes are dominated by relativistic effects that are or will produce high-energy x-rays and gamma-rays, as well as electrons. These energetic photons and particles will make temporal exploration of photochemical processes possible in the attosecond and femtosecond range.CPA-type lasers have begun to have a profound impact in laser-matter interaction. They have dramatically extended the field of optical science. But perhaps their most important aspect is their potential to bring back to the university laboratory a science that could be done only in large and expensive facilities.