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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Ultrahigh-Intensity Plasma Optics

Objective

Ultraintense and ultrashort light pulses have a huge potential for applications, such as the production of very compact particle accelerators. Exploiting this potential requires pushing the characteristics of lasers beyond their present state-of-the-art performances. However, the laser technology used so far is approaching its limits, in particular because of the optical breakdown of conventional optical media. Overcoming these limits requires finding radically new approaches for optics at ultrahigh laser intensities. The idea of this proposal consists in developing optical elements based on plasmas, i.e. plasma optics . Since plasmas are already ionized, they can sustain electromagnetic fields of extremely large amplitude. They can thus be exploited to produce several key optical elements needed to manipulate e.g. shorten, convert in frequency, or even amplify- existing ultraintense lasers. To this end, two main physical processes are exploited: laser-excited Langmuir waves, and the Doppler effect associated to the relativistic motion of plasmas in ultraintense laser fields. This project would contribute to the conception of a system consisting in a chain of several plasma optics, placed at the output of a table-top laser, which would deliver few-optical-cycle long PetaWatt-class near-visible light pulses, as well as Terawatt-class attosecond pulses in the soft x-ray range. Such light sources would open exciting perspectives in Science and Technology. More fundamentally, this project will exploit the coherent light emission induced during relativistic laser-plasma interaction as a fine probe of the ultrafast plasma dynamic. This new type of diagnostic should lead to significant progresses in the understanding of laser-plasma interaction at extreme laser intensities.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2009-StG
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
EU contribution
€ 1 140 000,00
Address
RUE LEBLANC 25
75015 PARIS 15
France

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

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