| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C005449/1 |
| Title: |
Soft X-Ray Lasing and High-Harmonic Generation in Waveguides |
| Principal Investigator: |
Hooker, Professor S |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Department: |
Oxford Physics |
| Organisation: |
University of Oxford |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 August 2005 |
Ends: |
31 July 2009 |
Value (£): |
662,144
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| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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This programme extends recent advances by the Oxford group in channelling very intense laser pulses over long lengths, and seeks to apply this breakthrough to efficiently drive lasers and nonlinear sources of light with extreme ultraviolet wavelengths - that is wavelengths beyond the ultraviolet and towards x-rays.Under EPSRC grant GR/M88969 the Oxford group developed the gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide. This device has been shown to be able to channel very high power laser pulses over lengths up to 50 mm. In fact the peak power of each laser pulse - several terawatts - is about equal to the combined power of all the power stations on Earth! The ability to guide such powerful pulses along channels not much thicker than a human hair has many potential applications such as pumping extreme ultraviolet lasers and miniature particle accelerators. Indeed, the Oxford group have recently investigated driving short-wavelength lasers in this and other waveguides. In those experiments lasing was achieved in the extreme ultraviolet, with an output more than a factor of 10 greater than obtained without a waveguide.The proposed programme aims to develop this work and investigate driving a wide range of short-wavelength lasers within the waveguides developed at Oxford, with the prospect of much greater energy output, increased efficiency, and improved beam quality. The team will also investigate generating extreme ultraviolet and x-radiation by multiplying the frequency of an intense visible laser in a technique known as 'high-harmonic generation' (HHG). In particular, by developing channels with periodic structure it is hoped to overcome so-called 'dephasing' problems which arise in a simple gas cell owing to the different speeds with which the pump and generated radiation propagate. It will also be possible to investigate HHG in highly ionized atoms, which should allow even shorter wavelengths to be reached.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.ox.ac.uk |