I Jong Kim

Relativistic frequency upshift to the extreme ultraviolet regime using self-induced oscillatory flying mirrors

Coherent short-wavelength radiation from laser–plasma interactions is of increasing interest in disciplines including ultrafast biomolecular imaging and attosecond physics. Using solid targets instead of atomic gases could enable the generation of coherent extreme ultraviolet radiation with higher energy and more energetic photons. Here we present the generation of extreme ultraviolet radiation through coherent high-harmonic generation from self-induced oscillatory flying mirrors—a new-generation mechanism established in a long underdense plasma on a solid target. Using a 30-fs, 100-TW Ti:sapphire laser, we obtain wavelengths as short as 4.9 nm for an optimized level of amplified spontaneous emission. Particle-in-cell simulations show that oscillatory flying electron nanosheets form in a long underdense plasma, and suggest that the high-harmonic generation is caused by reflection of the laser pulse from electron nanosheets. We expect this extreme ultraviolet radiation to be valuable in realizing a compact X-ray instrument for research in biomolecular imaging and attosecond physics.

Development of foam-based layered targets for laser-driven ion beam production

We report on the development of foam-based double-layer targets (DLTs) for laser-driven ion acceleration. Foam layers with a density of a few mg cm−3 and controlled thickness in the 8–36 μm range were grown on μm-thick Al foils by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The DLTs were experimentally investigated by varying the pulse intensity, laser polarisation and target properties. Comparing DLTs with simple Al foils, we observed a systematic enhancement of the maximum and average energies and number of accelerated ions. Maximum energies up to 30 MeV for protons and 130 MeV for C6+ ions were detected. Dedicated three-dimensional particle-in-cell (3D-PIC) simulations were performed considering both uniform and cluster-assembled foams to interpret the effect of the foam nanostructure on the acceleration process.

Single-pulse coherent diffraction imaging using soft x-ray laser.

We report a coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) using a single 8 ps soft x-ray laser pulse at a wavelength of 13.9 nm. The soft x-ray pulse was generated by a laboratory-scale intense pumping laser providing coherent x-ray pulses up to the level of 10(11) photons/pulse. A spatial resolution below 194 nm was achieved with a single pulse, and it was shown that a resolution below 55 nm is feasible with improved detector capability. The single-pulse CDI might provide a way to investigate dynamics of nanoscale molecules or particles.

Development of x-ray sources using PW laser systems at APRI GIST

A PW Ti:Sapphire laser with 30-J energy and 30-fs pulse duration has been developed at GIST and applied to generate x-rays and energetic charged particles. We present the status and plan of developing ultrashort x-ray sources and their applications. We successfully demonstrated x-ray lasers and their applications to high-resolution imaging. In addition, we plan to generate high flux x-ray/gamma-ray sources using the PW laser.

High-harmonic Generation from Solid Surface Using an Oscillating Mirror Model and Plasma Mirror System for High Contrast Laser Pulse

High-order harmonic generation from a solid surface affected by the contrast of a laser pulse was studied using an oscillating mirror model. High-order harmonics generated from solid surfaces have unusual properties such as spectral redshift, and an intensity difference between even- and odd-order harmonics which is not reported for high-order harmonics generated by a gas medium. We confirmed that high-order harmonics from solid surfaces have selectivity of polarization as well as cut-off extension and the enhancement of conversion efficiency proportional to laser intensity. And the principle of operation and the characteristics of a plasma mirror system developed for achieving high contrast laser pulses to pursue the experimental realization of high-harmonic generation from solid surfaces are reported. Energy fluence on the plasma mirrors is tunable between 10 J/cm 2 and 1000 J/cm 2 and around 1000 shots are available before the plasma mirrors require replacement.

Generation of monoenergetic ion beams via ionization dynamics (Conference Presentation)

The research on ion acceleration driven by high intensity laser pulse has attracted significant interests in recent decades due to the developments of laser technology. The intensive study of energetic ion bunches is particularly stimulated by wide applications in nuclear fusion, medical treatment, warm dense matter production and high energy density physics. However, to implement such compact accelerators, challenges are still existing in terms of beam quality and stability, especially in applications that require higher energy and narrow bandwidth spectra ion beams. We report on the acceleration of quasi-mono-energetic ion beams via ionization dynamics in the interaction of an intense laser pulse with a solid target. Using ionization dynamics model in 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we found that high charge state contamination ions can only be ionized in the central spot area where the intensity of sheath field surpasses their ionization threshold. These ions automatically form a microstructure target with a width of few micron scale, which is conducive to generate mono-energetic beams. In the experiment of ultraintense (< 10^21 W/cm^2) laser pulses irradiating ultrathin targets each attracted with a contamination layer of nm-thickness, high quality < 100 MeV mono-energetic ion bunches are generated. The peak energy of the self-generated micro-structured target ions with respect to different contamination layer thickness is also examined This is relatively newfound respect, which is confirmed by the consistence between experiment data and the simulation results.

Research on the seeding of high-energy harmonic pulse into an x-ray lasing medium

High-harmonic-seeded x-ray laser became an important issue in x-ray laser development due to the possibility to obtain a highly coherent and polarized soft x-ray source. We performed theoretical investigations into amplification of high harmonic pulses in an x-ray lasing medium by using a model based on Maxwell-Bloch equations. From the theoretical works, we analyze characteristics of energy extraction and temporal profile of output pulse. In addition, preliminary experimental results and ongoing experiments related the harmonic-seeded x-ray lasers are reported.