Haoran Chen

Laser-driven proton acceleration has attracted considerable interest owing to its potential in versatile applications, including cancer therapy. Proton energies depend critically on the on-target intensities, but the detrimental impact of focal spot degradation induced by spatiotemporal couplings on the acceleration remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that residual angular chirp (AC), stemming from minor misalignments of the grating compressor in a petawatt (PW)-class laser system, acts as a critical bottleneck for proton acceleration. Experimental results reveal that even around 100 μrad of grating misalignment induces substantial focal-spot elongation and a pronounced reduction in peak intensity. By implementing an in situ spectral-blocking diagnostic, we are able to effectively eliminate the residual AC and restore a near-diffraction-limited focus. This optimization leads to a significant recovery of the on-target intensity, resulting in a twofold increase in the proton cutoff energy. Our work represents a successful demonstration of diagnosis and elimination of residual AC. This provides a practical reference for generating high-energy proton beams and supporting their diverse applications in a PW-class laser.

Achieving diffraction-limited focusing of high-power laser pulses to generate ultrahigh intensities is crucial for developing compact laser-driven particle accelerators and exploring strong-field quantum electrodynamics. However, accurately diagnosing and optimizing the focal spots of petawatt (PW) laser pulses remains a significant challenge. In this work, we present an experimental methodology utilizing a twin-focus scheme to precisely characterize the intensity distribution and wavefront of focused PW femtosecond laser pulses, and employ it to elucidate their power-dependent evolution. Furthermore, we optimize the focal spots at full power via our in situ wavefront correction method called “HotLoop,” achieving a Strehl ratio of 0.80 for 1 PW laser pulses. Consequently, the cutoff proton energies in laser proton acceleration experiments are significantly enhanced. The success of this approach underscores the necessity of in situ high-energy wavefront correction for ultrahigh-intensity laser–matter interactions.