Open AccessSpatio-temporal characterization of attosecond pulses from plasma mirrors
Author(s) -
L. Chopineau,
A. Denoeud,
Adrien Leblanc,
Elkana Porat,
Philippe Martin,
Henri Vincenti,
F. Quéré
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 9.157
H-Index - 309
eISSN - 1745-2481
pISSN - 1745-2473
DOI - 10.1038/s41567-021-01253-9
Subject(s) - physics , attosecond , laser , plasma , optics , pulse (music) , femtosecond , ionization , self focusing , ion , ultrashort pulse , laser beams , quantum mechanics , detector
Reaching light intensities above 10 25 W/cm 2 and up to the Schwinger limit of the order of 10 29 W/cm 2 would enable testing fundamental predictions of quantum electrodynamics. A promising - yet challenging - approach to achieve such extreme fields consists in reflecting a high-power femtosecond laser pulse off a curved relativistic mirror. This enhances the intensity of the reflected beam by simultaneously compressing it in time down to the attosecond range, and focusing it to sub-micrometre focal spots. Here we show that such curved relativistic mirrors can be produced when an ultra-intense laser pulse ionizes a solid target and creates a dense plasma that specularly reflects the incident light. This is evidenced by measuring the temporal and spatial effects induced on the reflected beam by this so-called 'plasma mirror'. The all-optical measurement technique demonstrated here will be instrumental for the use of relativistic plasma mirrors with the upcoming generation of Petawatt lasers that recently reached intensities of 5 × 10 22 W/cm 2 , and therefore constitutes a viable experimental path to the Schwinger limit.