Beam splitter entangler for light fields

We propose an experimentally feasible scheme to generate various types of entangled states of light fields by using beam splitters and single-photon detectors. Two beams of light fields are incident on two beam splitters respectively with each beam being asymmetrically split into two parts in which one part is supposed to be so weak that it contains at most one photon. We let the two weak output modes interfere at a third beam splitter. A conditional joint measurement on both weak output modes may result in an entanglement between the other two output modes. The conditions for the maximal entanglement are discussed based on the concurrence. Several specific examples are also examined.

Electron acceleration in a tightly focused laser beam

Electron acceleration in a tightly focused ultra-intensity linear polarized laser beam is investigated numerically. It has been found that the acceleration is strong phase dependent and is periodic to the variety of the initial laser field phase. When optimal initial parameters are chosen, the electron can be accelerated effectively. The accelerated electrons are emitted in pulses of which the full width is less than the half period of the laser field.

Phase dependence of electron acceleration in a tightly focused laser beam

Electron acceleration using a tightly focused ultraintensity laser beam is investigated numerically and strong phase dependence is found. The acceleration is periodic to the variety of the initial laser field phase, and the accelerated electrons are emitted in pulses of which the full width is the half period of the laser field. When a 10 PW intense laser beam is used, the electron with energy less than 1 Mev can be accelerated up to energies about 1.4 GeV. The optimal initial condition for electron acceleration is found. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Neutron source from thin foil confined by two laser pulses

Neutron production from a thin deuterium-tritium (D-T) foil irradiated by two intense femtosecond laser pulses from opposite sides with zero phase difference is studied analytically and numerically. For the interaction of a laser pulse of amplitude a = 7, focal area 100 mu m(2) and areal density 4.4 x 10(18) cm(-2) with a D-T plasma foil, about 1.17 x 10(21) neutron s(-1) can be obtained, much more than from other methods. The profiles of the ion and electron densities are also calculated.

The optoelectronic swept-frequency laser and its applications in ranging, three-dimensional imaging, and coherent beam combining of chirped-seed amplifiers

This thesis explores the design, construction, and applications of the optoelectronic swept-frequency laser (SFL). The optoelectronic SFL is a feedback loop designed around a swept-frequency (chirped) semiconductor laser (SCL) to control its instantaneous optical frequency, such that the chirp characteristics are determined solely by a reference electronic oscillator. The resultant system generates precisely controlled optical frequency sweeps. In particular, we focus on linear chirps because of their numerous applications. We demonstrate optoelectronic SFLs based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and distributed-feedback lasers (DFBs) at wavelengths of 1550 nm and 1060 nm. We develop an iterative bias current predistortion procedure that enables SFL operation at very high chirp rates, up to 10^16 Hz/sec. We describe commercialization efforts and implementation of the predistortion algorithm in a stand-alone embedded environment, undertaken as part of our collaboration with Telaris, Inc. We demonstrate frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) ranging and three-dimensional (3-D) imaging using a 1550 nm optoelectronic SFL.

We develop the technique of multiple source FMCW (MS-FMCW) reflectometry, in which the frequency sweeps of multiple SFLs are "stitched" together in order to increase the optical bandwidth, and hence improve the axial resolution, of an FMCW ranging measurement. We demonstrate computer-aided stitching of DFB and VCSEL sweeps at 1550 nm. We also develop and demonstrate hardware stitching, which enables MS-FMCW ranging without additional signal processing. The culmination of this work is the hardware stitching of four VCSELs at 1550 nm for a total optical bandwidth of 2 THz, and a free-space axial resolution of 75 microns.

We describe our work on the tomographic imaging camera (TomICam), a 3-D imaging system based on FMCW ranging that features non-mechanical acquisition of transverse pixels. Our approach uses a combination of electronically tuned optical sources and low-cost full-field detector arrays, completely eliminating the need for moving parts traditionally employed in 3-D imaging. We describe the basic TomICam principle, and demonstrate single-pixel TomICam ranging in a proof-of-concept experiment. We also discuss the application of compressive sensing (CS) to the TomICam platform, and perform a series of numerical simulations. These simulations show that tenfold compression is feasible in CS TomICam, which effectively improves the volume acquisition speed by a factor ten.

We develop chirped-wave phase-locking techniques, and apply them to coherent beam combining (CBC) of chirped-seed amplifiers (CSAs) in a master oscillator power amplifier configuration. The precise chirp linearity of the optoelectronic SFL enables non-mechanical compensation of optical delays using acousto-optic frequency shifters, and its high chirp rate simultaneously increases the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) threshold of the active fiber. We characterize a 1550 nm chirped-seed amplifier coherent-combining system. We use a chirp rate of 5*10^14 Hz/sec to increase the amplifier SBS threshold threefold, when compared to a single-frequency seed. We demonstrate efficient phase-locking and electronic beam steering of two 3 W erbium-doped fiber amplifier channels, achieving temporal phase noise levels corresponding to interferometric fringe visibilities exceeding 98%.

Repeat-until-success distributed quantum computation by using single-photon interference at a beam splitter

A repeat-until-success (RUS) measurement-based scheme for the implementation of the distributed quantum computation by using single-photon interference at a 50:50 beam splitter is proposed. It is shown that the 50:50 beam splitter can naturally project a suitably encoded matter-photon state to either a desired entangling gate-operated state of the matter qubits or to their initial state when the photon is detected. The recurrence of the initial state permits us to implement the desired entangling gate in a RUS way. To implement a distributed quantum computation we suggest an encoding method by means of the effect of dipole-induced transparency proposed recently [E. Waks and J. Vuckovic, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 153601 (2006)]. The effects of the unfavorable factors on our scheme are also discussed.

Fabrication of two-dimensional periodic nanostructures by two-beam interference of femtosecond pulses

Two-dimensional periodic nanostructures on ZnO crystal surface were fabricated by two-beam interference of 790 nm femtosecond laser. The long period is, as usually reported, determined by the interference pattern of two laser beams. Surprisingly, there is another short periodic nanostructures with periods of 220-270 nm embedding in the long periodic structures. We studied the periods, orientation, and the evolution of the short periodic nanostructures, and found them analogous to the self-organized nanostructures induced by single fs laser beam. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Characterization of a multi-keV x-ray source produced by nanosecond laser irradiation of a solid target: The influence of laser focus spot and target thickness

The influence of focus spot and target thickness on multi-keV x-ray sources generated by 2 ns duration laser heated solid targets are investigated on the Shenguang II laser facility. In the case of thick-foil targets, the experimental data and theoretical analysis show that the emission volume of the x-ray sources is sensitive to the laser focus spot and proportional to the 3 power of the focus spot size. The steady x-ray flux is proportional to the 5/3 power of the focus spot size of the given laser beam in our experimental condition. In the case of thin-foil targets, experimental data show that there is an optimal foil thickness corresponding to the given laser parameters. With the given laser beam, the optimal thin-foil thickness is proportional to the -2/3 power of the focus spot size, and the optimal x-ray energy of thin foil is independent of focus spot size. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Generation of periodic ultrashort electron bunches and strongly asymmetric ion Coulomb explosion in nanometer foils interacting with ultra-intense laser pulse

The interaction of a linearly polarized intense laser pulse with an ultrathin nanometer plasma layer is investigated to understand the physics of the ion acceleration. It is shown by the computer simulation that the plasma response to the laser pulse comprises two steps. First, due to the vxB effect, electrons in the plasma layer are extracted and periodic ultrashort relativistic electron bunches are generated every half of a laser period. Second, strongly asymmetric Coulomb explosion of ions in the foil occurs due to the strong electrostatic charge separation, once the foil is burnt through. Followed by the laser accelerated electron bunch, the ion expansion in the forward direction occurs along the laser beam that is much stronger as compared to the backward direction. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Relativistic channel-coupling focusing enhanced nonlinear guiding of an intense laser beam in a plasma channel

We employ the variational method to study the optical guiding of an intense laser beam in a preformed plasma channel without using the weakly relativistic approximation. Apart from the dependence on the laser power and the nonlinear channel strength parameter, the beam focusing properties is shown also to be governed by the laser intensity. Relativistic channel-coupling focusing, arising from the coupling between relativistic self-focusing and linear channel focusing, can enhance relativistic self-focusing but its strength is weaker than that of linear channel focusing. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electron self-injection and acceleration driven by a tightly focused intense laser beam in an underdense plasma

A scheme for electron self-injection in the laser wakefield acceleration is proposed. In this scheme, the transverse wave breaking of the wakefield and the tightly focused geometry of the laser beam play important roles. A large number of the background electrons are self-injected into the acceleration phase of the wakefield during the defocusing of the tightly focused laser beam as it propagates through an underdense plasma. Particle-in-cell simulations performed using a 2D3V code have shown generation of a collimated electron bunch with a total number of 1.4 x 109 and energies up to 8 MeV. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Reflection and transmission of Gaussian beam from a uniaxial crystal slab

We investigate the characteristics of Gaussian beams reflected and transmitted from a uniaxial crystal slab with an arbitrary orientation of its optical axis. The formulas of the total electric and magnetic fields inside and outside the slab are derived by use of Maxwell's equations and by matching the boundary conditions at the interfaces. Numerical simulations are presented and the field values as well as the power densities are computed. Negative refractions are demonstrated when the beam is transmitted through a uniaxial crystal slab. Beam splitting of the reflected beam is observed and is explained by the resonant transmission for plane waves. Dependences of the lateral shift on the incident angle and beam width are discussed. Negative and positive lateral shifts are observed due to the spatial anisotropic properties.

Attosecond x-ray pulse generation by linear Thomson scattering of intense laser beam with relativistic electron

Linear Thomson scattering of a short pulse laser by relativistic electron lids been investigated using computer simulations. It is shown that scattering of an intense laser pulse of similar to 33 fs full width at half maximum, with an electron of gamma(o) = 10 initial energy, generates an ultrashort, pulsed radiation of 76 attoseconds, with a photon wavelength of 2.5 nm in the backward direction. The scattered radiation generated by a highly relativistic electron has superior quality in terms of its pulse width and angular distribution in comparison to the one generated by lower relativistic energy electron.

Intense laser beam guiding in self-induced electron cavitation channel in underdense plasmas

In underdense plasmas, the transverse ponderomotive force of an intense laser beam with Gaussian transverse profile expels electrons radially, and it can lead to an electron cavitation. An improved cavitation model with charge conservation constraint is applied to the determination of the width of the electron cavity. The envelope equation for laser spot size derived by using source-dependent expansion method is extended to including the electron cavity. The condition for self-guiding is given and illuminated by an effective potential for the laser spot size. The effects of the laser power, plasma density and energy dissipation on the self-guiding condition are discussed.