Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains xxi, 215 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / First, Phillip, Committee Member ; Adibi, Ali, Committee Member ; Raman, Chandra, Committee Member ; Buck, John, Committee Member ; Trebino, Rick, Committee Chair.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed April 26, 2007). PDF text: xii, 99 p. : ill. (some col.) UMI publication number: AAT 3229554. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

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This thesis documents the development of plasma waveguides for high-intensity laser pulses. Initial work concentrated on the development of the discharge-ablated capillary waveguide, based on the work of A. Zigler (Zigler, A., Y. Ehrlich, C. Cohen, J. Krall and P. Sprangle, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 13, 68). The waveguide was shown to be capable of guiding picosecond laser pulses with an intensity of 10¹⁶ W cm^-2 over a length of 10 mm. The pulse energy transmission of the capillary was increased from 48% to 70% when the discharge was fired. An interferometry-based measurement technique was developed, allowing measurement of the electron density profile formed in the capillary waveguide. These measurements were used as input to a numerical simulation that predicted the propagation of intense laser pulses through partially-ionised plasma waveguides. Numerical simulations accurately reproduced the picosecond pulse guiding results, and gave important insights into the properties and severe drawbacks of partially-ionised waveguides. Previous work on partially-ionised plasma waveguides has not fully explored the implications of the propagation of intense pulses through the partially-ionised plasma. For polypropylene waveguides, it was shown that for pulses with an intensity of 10¹⁶ W cm^-2, the waveguide is not capable of high-quality guiding. However, for pulses with an intensity of greater than 10¹⁷ W cm^-2, high-quality guiding is predicted through the partially-ionised waveguide in a new regime called "quasi-matched guiding". A novel gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide was designed and built. The device was shown to form a guiding channel inside a capillary pre-filled with gas. Interferometry measurements of the electron density profile formed in a hydrogen-filled capillary discharge waveguide showed that an approximately parabolic plasma waveguide could be formed in an essentially fully-ionised hydrogen plasma. The device was used to guide femtosecond laser pulses, with an intensity of 10¹⁷ W cm^-2, over distances of 20 and 40 mm, with a pulse energy transmission of 92% and 82% respectively. For the 20 mm-long waveguide, the peak intensity in the output plane of the waveguide was 70% of that at the waveguide input. These results indicate the lowest coupling and insertion losses of any waveguide published to date. The gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide is shown to be capable and versatile, and is suited for use as a tool in other applications. The use of the waveguide in the fields of XUV lasers and laser wakefield acceleration is discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Trebino, Rick, Committee Chair ; First, Phillip, Committee Member ; Ralph, Stephen, Committee Member ; Kennedy, Brian, Committee Member ; Buck, John, Committee Member.

We present a passive and robust mode-locking scheme for a Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL). We placed the semiconductor gain medium and the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) strategically in a ring cavity to provide a stable colliding pulse operation. With this cavity geometry, the two counter propagating pulses synchronize on the SESAM to saturate the absorber together. This minimizes the energy lost and creates a transient carrier grating due to the interference of the two beams. The interaction of the two counter-propagating pulses in the SESAM is shown to extend the range of the modelocking regime and to enable higher output power when compared to the conventional VECSEL cavity geometry. In this configuration, we demonstrate a pulse duration of 195fs with an average power of 225mW per output beam at a repetition rate of 2.2GHz, giving a peak power of 460W per beam. The remarkable robustness of the modelocking regime is discussed and a rigorous pulse characterization is presented.

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No description available.