Marie Ouillé

Cette thèse expérimentale s’est essentiellement déroulée au Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée à Palaiseau (France), sur un système laser capable de générer des impulsions proches du cycle optique en durée avec des énergies de plusieurs mJ à une cadence de 1 kHz : la Salle Noire 2. Ce système laser Titane:Sapphire est double CPA avec un filtre non-linéaire entre les deux étages (basé sur la génération d’onde de polarisation croisée ou ‘XPW’) pour améliorer le contraste temporel, suivi d’un étage de post-compression dans une fibre flexible étirée à cœur creux. Grâce à ce système, nous étudions l’interaction laser-matière en régime relativiste à haute cadence. Nous parvenons, d’une part, dans des jets de gaz, à accélérer des électrons dans le sillage du laser jusqu’ à une énergie de quelques MeV; et d’autre part, par interaction avec des miroirs plasma, à générer des harmoniques d’ordres élevés qui sont associées dans le domaine temporel à des impulsions attosecondes. Malgré la prouesse technique de ces expériences, les propriétés des faisceaux XUV et d’électrons ainsi générés restent encore peu compatibles avec des applications phares en aval. À la suite de travaux précédents en Salle Noire 2, l’objectif de cette thèse était d’obtenir des faisceaux aux propriétés stables, ce qui a été accompli en rendant le système laser plus stable et fiable, ainsi qu’en implémentant une boucle de contrôle rapide de la phase enveloppe-porteuse des impulsions laser. En variant la phase enveloppe-porteuse, nous avons ainsi pu générer des impulsions attosecondes uniques en formant une porte temporelle d’intensité relativiste à la surface du miroir plasma, et aussi produire des faisceaux d’électrons stables en énergie et en direction, en contrôlant l’injection d’ électrons dans l’accélérateur laser-plasma. De plus, différents régime d’interaction avec les miroirs plasma ont été étudiés expérimentalement, tels que l’accélération d’électrons dans les longs gr adients de densité plasma, et l’accélération de protons en face avant de la cible (la face sur laquelle le laser est incident) le long de la direction normale à la cible, afin de mesurer de nouvelles observables (spectre d’énergie des électrons, divergence des faisceaux de protons) et ainsi mieux comprendre la dynamique d’interaction laser-plasma.

We report on attosecond-scale control of high-harmonic and fast electron emission from plasma mirrors driven by relativistic-intensity near-single-cycle light waves at a kHz repetition rate. By controlling the waveform of the intense light transient, we reproducibly form a sub-cycle temporal intensity gate at the plasma mirror surface, leading to the observation of extreme ultraviolet spectral continua, characteristic of isolated attosecond pulse (IAP) generation. We also observe the correlated emission of a waveform-dependent relativistic electron beam, paving the way toward fully lightwave-controlled dynamics of relativistic plasma mirrors.

We report on a uniquely designed high repetition rate relativistic laser–solid–plasma interaction platform, featuring the first simultaneous measurement of emitted high-order harmonics, relativistic electrons, and low divergence proton beams. This versatile setup enables detailed parametric studies of the particle and radiation spatio-spectral beam properties under a wide range of controlled interaction conditions, such as pulse duration and plasma density gradient. Its array of complementary diagnostics unlocks the potential to unravel interdependencies among the observables and should aid in further understanding the complex collective dynamics at play during laser–plasma interactions and in optimizing the secondary beam properties for applications.

Proton beams with up to 100 pC bunch charge, 0.48 MeV cutoff energy, and divergence as low as 3° were generated from solid targets at kHz repetition rate by a few-mJ femtosecond laser under controlled plasma conditions. The beam spatial profile was measured using a small aperture scanning time-of-flight detector. Detailed parametric studies were performed by varying the surface plasma scale length from 8 to 80 nm and the laser pulse duration from 4 fs to 1.5 ps. Numerical simulations are in good agreement with observations and, together with an in-depth theoretical analysis of the acceleration mechanism, indicate that high repetition rate femtosecond laser technology could be used to produce few-MeV proton beams for applications.

The investigation of spatio-temporal couplings (STCs) of broadband light beams is becoming a key topic for the optimization as well as applications of ultrashort laser systems. This calls for accurate measurements of STCs. Yet, it is only recently that such complete spatio-temporal or spatio-spectral characterization has become possible, and it has so far mostly been implemented at the output of the laser systems, where experiments take place. In this survey, we present for the first time STC measurements at different stages of a collection of high-power ultrashort laser systems, all based on the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technique, but with very different output characteristics. This measurement campaign reveals spatio-temporal effects with various sources, and motivates the expanded use of STC characterization throughout CPA laser chains, as well as in a wider range of types of ultrafast laser systems. In this way knowledge will be gained not only about potential defects, but also about the fundamental dynamics and operating regimes of advanced ultrashort laser systems.

We report on the first observation and control of carrier-envelope phase effects in Laser Wakefield Acceleration. These effects imply the breakdown of the cycle-averaged ponderomotive approximation and are explained through highly localized off-axis electron injection.

The shaping of astrophysical outflows into bright, dense, and collimated jets due to magnetic pressure is here investigated using laboratory experiments. Here we look at the impact on jet collimation of a misalignment between the outflow, as it stems from the source, and the magnetic field. For small misalignments, a magnetic nozzle forms and redirects the outflow in a collimated jet. For growing misalignments, this nozzle becomes increasingly asymmetric, disrupting jet formation. Our results thus suggest outflow/magnetic field misalignment to be a plausible key process regulating jet collimation in a variety of objects from our Sun’s outflows to extragalatic jets. Furthermore, they provide a possible interpretation for the observed structuring of astrophysical jets. Jet modulation could be interpreted as the signature of changes over time in the outflow/ambient field angle, and the change in the direction of the jet could be the signature of changes in the direction of the ambient field.

We report on the stable and continuous operation of a kilohertz laser-plasma accelerator. Electron bunches with 2.6 pC charge and 2.5 MeV peak energy were generated via injection and trapping in a downward plasma density ramp. This density transition was produced in a specially designed asymmetrically shocked gas jet. The reproducibility of the electron source was also assessed over a period of a week and found to be satisfactory with similar values of the beam charge and energy. Particle in cell simulations confirm the role of the shock and the density transition in the electron injection mechanism. These results show that the reproducibility and stability of the laser-plasma accelerator are greatly enhanced on the long-term scale when using a robust scheme for density gradient injection.

The development of ultra-intense and ultra-short light sources is currently a subject of intense research driven by the discovery of novel phenomena in the realm of relativistic optics, such as the production of ultrafast energetic particle and radiation beams for applications. It has been a long-standing challenge to unite two hitherto distinct classes of light sources: those achieving relativistic intensity and those with pulse durations approaching a single light cycle. While the former class traditionally involves large-scale amplification chains, the latter class places high demand on the spatiotemporal control of the electromagnetic laser field. Here, we present a light source producing waveform-controlled 1.5-cycle pulses with a 719 nm central wavelength that can be focused to relativistic intensity at a 1 kHz repetition rate based on nonlinear post-compression in a long hollow-core fiber. The unique capabilities of this source allow us to observe the first experimental indications of light waveform effects in laser wakefield acceleration of relativistic energy electrons.

Magnetized laser-produced plasmas are central to many novel laboratory astrophysics and inertial confinement fusion studies, as well as in industrial applications. Here we provide the first complete description of the three-dimensional dynamics of a laser-driven plasma plume expanding in a 20 T transverse magnetic field. The plasma is collimated by the magnetic field into a slender, rapidly elongating slab, whose plasma-vacuum interface is unstable to the growth of the “classical,” fluidlike magnetized Rayleigh-Taylor instability.