Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
<mark>Journal publication date</mark> | 06/2009 |
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<mark>Journal</mark> | Laser and Particle Beams |
Issue number | 2 |
Volume | 27 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Pages (from-to) | 243-248 |
Publication Status | Published |
<mark>Original language</mark> | English |
As the state of the art for high power laser systems increases from terawatt to petawatt level and beyond, a crucial parameter for routinely monitoring high intensity performance is laser spot size on a solid target during an intense interaction in the tight focus regime (<10 mu m). Here we present a novel, simple technique for characterizing the spatial profile of such a laser focal spot by imaging the interaction region in third harmonic order (3 omega(laser)). Nearly linear intensity dependence of 3 omega(laser) generation for interactions > 10(19) Wcm(-2) is demonstrated experimentally and shown to provide the basis for an effective focus diagnostic. Importantly, this technique is also shown to allow in-situ diagnosis of focal spot quality achieved after reflection from a double plasma mirror setup for very intense high contrast interactions (> 10(20) Wcm(-2)) an important application for the field of high laser contrast interaction science.