Peer-Review Publications

These notes provide a pedagogical introduction to the theoretical study of vacuum polarization effects in strong electromagnetic fields as provided by state-of-the-art high-intensity lasers. Quantum vacuum fluctuations give rise to effective couplings between electromagnetic fields, thereby supplementing Maxwell’s linear theory of classical electrodynamics with nonlinearities. Resorting to a simplified laser pulse model, allowing for explicit analytical insights, we demonstrate how to efficiently analyze all-optical signatures of these effective interactions in high-intensity laser experiments. Moreover, we highlight several key features relevant for the accurate planning and quantitative theoretical analysis of quantum vacuum nonlinearities in the collision of high-intensity laser pulses.

Attosecond light sources have provided insight into the fastest atomic-scale electronic dynamics. True attosecond-pump–attosecond-probe experiments require a single attosecond pulse at high intensity and large photon energy, a challenge that has yet to be conquered. Here we show 100-TW single attosecond x-ray pulses with unprecedented intensity of 1021 W/cm2 and duration 8.0 as can be produced by intense laser irradiation of a capacitor-nanofoil target composed of two separate nanofoils. In the interaction, a strong electrostatic potential develops between the two foils, which drags electrons out of the second foil and piles them up in vacuum, forming an ultradense relativistic electron nanobunch. This nanobunch reaches both high density and high energy in only half a laser cycle and smears out in others, resulting in coherent synchrotron emission of a single, intense attosecond pulse. Such a pulse enables the capture and control of electron motion at the picometer–attosecond scale.

A simplification strategy for segmented mirror splitters (SMS) used as beam combiners is presented. These devices are useful for compact beam division and the combination of linear and 2-D arrays. However, the standard design requires unique thin-film coating sections for each input beam; thus, potential for scaling to high beam-counts is limited due to manufacturing complexity. Taking advantage of the relative insensitivity of the beam combination process to amplitude variations, numerical techniques are used to optimize highly simplified designs with only one, two or three unique coatings. It is demonstrated that with correctly chosen coating reflectivities, the simplified optics are capable of high combination efficiency for several tens of beams. The performance of these optics as beam splitters in multicore fiber amplifier systems is analyzed, and inhomogeneous power distribution of the simplified designs is noted as a potential source of combining loss in such systems. These simplified designs may facilitate further scaling of filled-aperture coherently combined systems in linear array or 2-D array formats.

In order to classify and understand structure of the spacetime, investigation of the geodesic motions of massive and massless particles is a key tool. So the geodesic equation is a central equation of gravitating systems and the subject of geodesics in the black hole dictionary attracted much attention. In this paper, we give a full description of geodesic motions in three-dimensional spacetime. We investigate the geodesics near charged BTZ black holes and then generalize our prescriptions to the case of massive gravity. We show that electric charge is a critical parameter for categorizing the geodesic motions of both lightlike and timelike particles. In addition, we classify the type of geodesics based on the particle properties and geometry of spacetime.

CRYRING was moved from Stockholm to Darmstadt, modernized and integrated into the GSI/FAIR beamline topology behind ESR. As CRYRING@ESR, it will receive and store heavy, highly charged ions from all species the present accelerator chain is capable of producing. An extensive research program on low-energy atomic collisions, spectroscopy and nuclear reactions was proposed. The facility is gradually completing commissioning, ion beams from the local injector branch have already been stored and prototype experiments performed. We present the machine status and highlight some planned experiments.

The structure and dynamics of molecules are governed by the electric forces acting between electrons and nuclei. Intense, ultrashort laser pulses offer the possibility to manipulate these forces, on the time scales relevant for the motion of a molecule's constituents. Thus, laser fields can act, not only as a mechanism to trigger molecular dynamics, but also controlling them. The fragmentation patterns that result from the interaction testify to the laser-induced processes occurring in the molecule. In this review, we examine how a laser addresses the different degrees of freedom of a molecule, from electronic excitation to vibrations of nuclei, to rotations of the molecule. We will focus the discussion on the most fundamental systems, particularly H2+, H2, and HeH+. These simple systems allow for accurate theoretical analysis of experimental results, and extrapolation of the conclusions to more complex systems. Since some of the most fundamental molecules, such as HeH+ and H3+ do not exist in the neutral form, we put an emphasis on experiments starting from molecular ions, but do not restrict the discussion to these. Strong-field interactions of small molecules are a test ground, not only for experimental but also for theoretical methods. The joint effort of the two scientific disciplines have delivered deep insights into fundamental concepts of molecular science. The recent developments of novel laser sources with longer wavelength, higher peak power, or repetition rates, as well as more complex targets and detection schemes, promise that the field will remain highly relevant in the decades to come.

We present a study on temperature dependent spectroscopic data for Yb:KGW, Yb:KYW and Yb:YLF between 80K and 280K and Yb:YAP between 100K and 300 K. Absorption and emission cross sections are determined. The latter ones are obtained by using a combination of the McCumber relation and the Füchtbauer-Ladenburg equation. Fluorescence lifetimes are measured within a setup optimized for the suppression of re-absorption and compared to the radiative lifetimes calculated from the previously determined cross sections to cross check the validity of the measurements. The cross sections are evaluated with regard to the materials' potential for supporting the generation of ultra-short laser pulses, low quantum defect lasing and requirements for suitable diode laser pump sources.

Ion-ion collisions between slow (kev/u) and fast (MeV/u) ions play an important role in for example astrophysical or inertial fusion plasmas as well as in ion-matter interaction. In this regime the energy transfer is maximum, as all primary electronic processes reach their maximum. At the same time up to today no reliable experimental data exists while being difficult to treat accurately by theory. We present the current status and performance of the low energy beam-line of the FISIC experiment which aims at filling in the blanks in this regime.

Stored and cooled highly-charged ions offer unprecedented capabilities for precision studies in realm of atomic-, nuclear-structure and astrophysics. In context of the latter, after the successful investigation of the cross section of 96Ru(p,γ) in 2009, in 2016 the first measurement of the 124Xe(p,γ)125Cs reaction was performed at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI.

This work presents a review on the effect of transverse mode instability in highpower fiber laser systems and the corresponding investigations led worldwide over the past decade. This paper includes a description of the experimental observations and the physical origin of this effect, as well as some of the proposed mitigation strategies.

In the present work we show experimentally and by numerical calculations a substantial far-field beam reshaping by mixing square-shaped and hexagonal optical vortex (OV) lattices composed of vortices with alternatively changing topological charges. We show that the small-scale structure of the observed pattern results from the OV lattice with the larger array node spacing, whereas the large-scale structure stems from the OV lattice with the smaller array node spacing. In addition, we demonstrate that it is possible to host an OV, a one-dimensional, or a quasi-two-dimensional singular beam in each of the bright beams of the generated focal patterns. The detailed experimental data at different square-to-hexagonal vortex array node spacings shows that this quantity could be used as a control parameter for generating the desired focused structure. The experimental data are in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations.

Laser-dressed photoelectron spectroscopy, employing extreme-ultraviolet attosecond pulses obtained by femtosecond-laser-driven high-order harmonic generation, grants access to atomic-scale electron dynamics. Limited by space charge effects determining the admissible number of photoelectrons ejected during each laser pulse, multidimensional (i.e. spatially or angle-resolved) attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy of solids and nanostructures requires high-photon-energy, broadband high harmonic sources operating at high repetition rates. Here, we present a high-conversion-efficiency, 18.4-MHz-repetition-rate cavity-enhanced high harmonic source emitting 5 x 10(5) photons per pulse in the 25-to-60-eV range, releasing 1 x 10(10) photoelectrons per second from a 10-mu m-diameter spot on tungsten, at space charge distortions of only a few tens of meV. Broadband, time-of-flight photoelectron detection with nearly 100% temporal duty cycle evidences a count rate improvement between two and three orders of magnitude over state-of-the-art attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy experiments under identical space charge conditions. The measurement time reduction and the photon energy scalability render this technology viable for next-generation, high-repetition-rate, multidimensional attosecond metrology.

We propose and demonstrate the use of random phase plates (RPPs) for high-energy sub-picosecond lasers. Contrarily to previous work related to nanosecond lasers, an RPP poses technical challenges with ultrashort-pulse lasers. Here, we implement the RPP near the beginning of the amplifier and image-relay it throughout the laser amplifier. With this, we obtain a uniform intensity distribution in the focus over an area 1600 times the diffraction limit. This method shows no significant drawbacks for the laser and it has been implemented at the PHELIX laser facility where it is now available for users.

Light beams with helical phase-fronts are known to carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) and provide an additional degree of freedom to beams of coherent light. While OAM beams can be readily derived from Gaussian laser beams with phase plates or gratings, this is far more challenging in the extreme ultra-violet (XUV), especially for the case of high XUV intensity. Here, we theoretically and numerically demonstrate that intense surface harmonics carrying OAM are naturally produced by the intrinsic dynamics of a relativistically intense circularly-polarized Gaussian beam (i.e. non-vortex) interacting with a target at normal incidence. Relativistic surface oscillations convert the laser pulses to intense XUV harmonic radiation via the well-known relativistic oscillating mirror mechanism. We show that the azimuthal and radial dependence of the harmonic generation process converts the spin angular momentum of the laser beam to orbital angular momentum resulting in an intense attosecond pulse (or pulse train) with OAM.

Relative cross sections for m-fold photoionization (m = 1,…, 5) of Fe3+ by single-photon absorption were measured employing the photon-ion merged-beams setup PIPE at the PETRA III synchrotron light source operated at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The photon energies used spanned the range of 680–950 eV, covering both the photoexcitation resonances from the 2p and 2s shells, as well as the direct ionization from both shells. Multiconfiguration Dirac–Hartree–Fock (MCDHF) calculations were performed to simulate the total photoexcitation spectra. Good agreement was found with the experimental results. These computations helped to assign several strong resonance features to specific transitions. We also carried out Hartree–Fock calculations with relativistic extensions taking into account both photoexcitation and photoionization. Furthermore, we performed extensive MCDHF calculations of the Auger cascades that result when an electron is removed from the 2p and 2s shells of Fe3+. Our theoretically predicted charge-state fractions are in good agreement with the experimental results, representing a substantial improvement over previous theoretical calculations. The main reason for the disagreement with the previous calculations is their lack of inclusion of slow Auger decays of several configurations that can only proceed when accompanied by de-excitation of two electrons. In such cases, this additional shake-down transition of a (sub)valence electron is required to gain the necessary energy for the release of the Auger electron.

X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) is more sensitive to density variations than X-ray absorption radiography, which is a crucial advantage when imaging weakly-absorbing, low-Z materials, or steep density gradients in matter under extreme conditions. Here, we describe the application of a polychromatic X-ray laser-plasma source (duration ~0.5 ps, photon energy >1 keV) to the study of a laser-driven shock travelling in plastic material. The XPCI technique allows for a clear identification of the shock front as well as of small-scale features present during the interaction. Quantitative analysis of the compressed object is achieved using a density map reconstructed from the experimental data.

Quantum walks are versatile simulators of topological phases and phase transitions as observed in condensed-matter physics. Here, we utilize a step-dependent coin in quantum walks and investigate what topological phases we can simulate with it, their topological invariants, bound states, and possibility of phase transitions. These quantum walks simulate nontrivial phases characterized by topological invariants (winding number) ±1, which are similar to the ones observed in topological insulators and polyacetylene. We confirm that the number of phases and their corresponding bound states increase step dependently. In contrast, the size of topological phase and distance between two bound states are decreasing functions of steps resulting into formation of multiple phases as quantum walks proceed (multiphase configuration). We show that, in the bound states, the winding number and group velocity are ill defined and the second moment of the probability density distribution in position space undergoes an abrupt change. Therefore, there are phase transitions taking place over the bound states and between two topological phases with different winding numbers.

We report an analysis of electron-optical properties of a toroidal magnetic sector spectrometer and examine parameters for its implementation in a relativistic heavy-ion storage ring like HESR. For studies of free-free pair production in heavy-ion atom collisions this spectrometer exhibits very high efficiencies for coincident e(+)- e(-) pair spectroscopy over a wide range of momenta of emitted lepton pairs. The high coincidence efficiency of the spectrometer is the key for stringent tests of theoretical predictions for the coincident positron- and electron emission characteristics and for the phase space correlation of lepton vector momenta in free-free pair production.

The pulse-energy scaling technique electro-optically controlled divided-pulse amplification is implemented in a high-power ultrafast fiber laser system based on coherent beam combination. A fiber-integrated front end and a multipass-cell-based back end allow for a small footprint and a modular implementation. Bursts of eight pulses are amplified parallel in up to 12 ytterbium-doped large-pitch fiber amplifiers. Subsequent spatiotemporal coherent combination of the 96 total amplified pulse replicas to a single pulse results in a pulse energy of 23 mJ at an average power of 674 W, compressible to a pulse duration of 235 fs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy ever accomplished with a fiber chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) system.

Laguerre–Gaussian-like laser beams have been proposed for driving experiments with high-intensity lasers. They carry orbital angular momentum and exhibit a ring-shaped intensity distribution in the far field which make them particularly attractive for various applications. We show experimentally and numerically that this donut-like shape is extremely sensitive to off-axis wavefront deformations. To support our claim, we generate a Laguerre–Gaussian-like laser beam and apply a selection of common low-order wavefront aberrations. We investigate the visibility of those wavefront deformations in the far field. Under use of established tolerance criteria, we determine the thresholds for the applied aberration and compare the findings with simulations for verification.

One of the major open problems in theoretical physics is the lack of a consistent quantum gravity theory. Recent developments in our knowledge on thermodynamic phase transitions of black holes and their van der Waals-like behavior may provide an interesting quantum interpretation of classical gravity. Studying different methods of investigating phase transitions can extend our understanding of the nature of quantum gravity. In this paper, we present an alternative theoretical approach for finding thermodynamic phase transitions in the extended phase space. Unlike the standard methods based on the usual equation of state involving temperature, our approach uses a new quasi-equation constructed from the slope of temperature versus entropy. This approach addresses some of the shortcomings of the other methods and provides a simple and powerful way of studying the critical behavior of a thermodynamical system. Among the applications of this approach, we emphasize the analytical demonstration of possible phase transition points and the identification of the non-physical range of horizon radii for black holes.

We have investigated channeling the DC dielectric breakdown of a 20 cm air gap by a sequence of four concatenated plasma filaments, independently produced by four focused, 5-ps-long laser pulses. The polarity of the applied DC voltage, as well as the temporal delay between the four pulses, was varied from a few to 400 ns, in an attempt to find the optimum direction and speed of the stepping filament sequence. We have found that the filament sequence reliably channeled the breakdown and measurably reduced the breakdown threshold voltage, relative to that in the unguided breakdown. However, no meaningful dependence on either the polarity of the applied DC voltage or the stepping speed of the filament sequence was observed. Our results support the established scenario of channeling the DC air breakdown by laser filaments, which is primarily based on the creation of a reduced-density air channel bridging the discharge gap. The channeling mechanism associated with seeding the discharge leader by the filament plasma plays a negligible role.

We report on a proton acceleration experiment in which high-intensity laser pulses with a wavelength of 0.4 mm and with varying temporal intensity contrast have been used to irradiate water droplets of 20 mm diameter. Such droplets are a reliable and easy-to-implement type of target for proton acceleration experiments with the potential to be used at very high repetition rates. We have investigated the influence of the laser's angle of incidence by moving the droplet along the laser polarization axis. This position, which is coupled with the angle of incidence, has a crucial impact on the maximum proton energy. Central irradiation leads to an inefficient coupling of the laser energy into hot electrons, resulting in a low maximum proton energy. The introduction of a controlled pre-pulse produces an enhancement of hot electron generation in this geometry and therefore higher proton energies. However, two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations support our experimental results confirming, that even slightly higher proton energies are achieved under grazing laser incidence when no additional pre-plasma is present. Illuminating a droplet under grazing incidence generates a stream of hot electrons that flows along the droplet's surface due to self-generated electric and magnetic fields and ultimately generates a strong electric field responsible for proton acceleration. The interaction conditions were monitored with the help of an ultra-short optical probe laser, with which the plasma expansion could be observed.