Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of axially modulated plasma waveguides using spatially patterned high-energy laser pulses. A spatial light modulator (SLM) imposes transverse phase front modulations on a low-energy (10 mJ) laser pulse which is interferometrically combined with a high-energy (130–450 mJ) pulse, sculpting its intensity profile. This enables dynamic and programmable shaping of the laser profile limited only by the resolution of the SLM and the intensity ratio of the two pulses. The plasma density profile formed by focusing the patterned pulse with an axicon lens is likewise dynamic and programmable. Centimeter-scale, axially modulated plasmas of varying shape and periodicity are demonstrated.

© 2016 Optical Society of America

Enhanced intensity variation for multiple-plane phase retrieval using a spatial light modulator as a convenient tunable diffuser

Percival F. Almoro, Quang Duc Pham, David Ignacio Serrano-Garcia, Satoshi Hasegawa, Yoshio Hayasaki, Mitsuo Takeda, and Toyohiko Yatagai
Opt. Lett. 41(10) 2161-2164 (2016)

Numerical and analytical models to study the laser-driven plasma perturbation in a dielectric gas-filled capillary waveguide

Alessandro Curcio, Massimo Petrarca, Danilo Giulietti, and Massimo Ferrario
Opt. Lett. 41(18) 4233-4236 (2016)

Generation of integer and fractional vector beams with q-plates encoded onto a spatial light modulator

Ignacio Moreno, María M. Sanchez-Lopez, Katherine Badham, Jeffrey A. Davis, and Don M. Cottrell
Opt. Lett. 41(6) 1305-1308 (2016)

Hyperbolic phase function used in a spatial light modulator for flat top focus generation

Dirk Nodop, Jan Ruecker, Sebastian Waechter, and Martin Kahle
Opt. Lett. 44(9) 2169-2172 (2019)

Characterizing a spatial light modulator using ptychography

Samuel McDermott, Peng Li, Gavin Williams, and Andrew Maiden
Opt. Lett. 42(3) 371-374 (2017)