We review highlights of our recent contributions to understanding the propagation dynamics and transverse orbital angular momentum of optical pulses carrying spatiotemporal optical vortices (STOVs). STOVs, which were first observed as an emergent phenomenon in nonlinear self-focusing, were first linearly generated using a 4đť‘“ pulse shaper and measured using transient-grating single-shot supercontinuum spectral interferometry (TG-SSSI). That STOV-based transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM) is carried at the single photon level was then confirmed in measurements of OAM conservation in second harmonic generation. Our recent theory for the electromagnetic mode structure and transverse OAM of STOV-carrying pulses in dispersive media predicts half-integer OAM and the existence of a transverse OAM-carrying quasiparticle: the bulk medium STOV polariton.
I will present recent results from 2 sets of laser plasma acceleration experiments spanning 4 orders of magnitude in plasma density. In near critical density hydrogen plasmas using 5 fs, < 3mJ laser pulses , we have demonstrated acceleration of few pC monoenergetic electron bunches up to 15 MeV at 1 kHz, at a record low beam divergence <10 mrad [1]. Mitigation of carrier envelope phase slip is key to this result. At the other extreme of plasma density, we have demonstrated 2 techniques [2,3] for generation of metre-scale low density plasma waveguides up to several hundred Rayleigh ranges in length, with recent preliminary results showing guiding of up to several hundred terawatts.
[1] Laser-accelerated, low divergence 15 MeV quasi-monoenergetic electron bunches at 1 kHz, F. Salehi, M. Le, L. Railing, and H. M. Milchberg, submitted for publication
[2] Optical Guiding in Meter-Scale Plasma Waveguides, B. Miao, L. Feder, J. E. Shrock, A. Goffin, and H. M. Milchberg, PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 125, 074801 (2020)
[3] Self-waveguiding of relativistic laser pulses in neutral gas channels, L. Feder, B. Miao, J. E. Shrock, A. Goffin, and H. M. Milchberg, PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH 2, 043173 (2020)
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