In this paper, a technique based on the use of optical interferometry is employed to evaluate the surface geometry and refractive index profile of a graded-index planar microlens array. The experimental setup consists of sodium light and He-Ne laser sources which are incorporated into a microscopy system. The two light sources can be utilized alternately for surface geometry and refractive inde...

A new feedback interferometer is developed with which not only the magnitude but also the sign of a phase change caused by a variation in the optical path can be measured. This is an important feature, for example, in plasma diagnostics. a He-Ke laser. The two interference signals can be separately detected by virtue of the orthogonal polarisation of the two axial modes of the laser without Bre...

We report the first demonstration of a high average power tabletop soft x-ray laser. An average laser output power of ø1 mW s.2 3 1014 photonsysd was generated at 46.9 nm in Ne-like Ar using a very compact tabletop discharge. The spatially coherent average power emitted by this 26.5 eV laser is comparable to that generated at this photon energy in a similar bandwidth sDlyl ­ 1024d by a thirdgen...

We demonstrate how to tune the main ion acceleration mechanism in laser-plasma interactions to collisionless shock acceleration, thus achieving control over the final ion beam properties (e. g. maximum energy, divergence, number of accelerated ions). We investigate this technique with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations and illustrate a possible experimental realisation. The setup co...

We present a real-time complex amplitude reconstruction method for determining the beam propagation ratio M2 of laser beams based on the transport of intensity equation (TIE). In this work, a synchronous acquisition system consisting of two identical CCDs is established. Once two beam intensity images at different cross-section positions along the optical axis are captured simultaneously by the...

OF THESIS DESK-TOP SIZE HIGH REPETITION RATE 46.9 NM CAPILLARY DISCHARGE LASER AS PHOTOIONIZATION SOURCE FOR PHOTOCHEMISTRY APPLICATIONS A portable high repetition rate desktop-size capillary discharge laser emitting at a wavelength of 46.9 nm (26.5 eV photon energy) was demonstrated and used as a photoionization source in nanocluster mass spectroscopy. The high photon energy allows the single-...

where co is the angular velocity of the chopper, r the distance from the rotating center to the laser beam axis, and t2-t, the time interval for a variation of P(x)/P0 from 0.9 to 0.1. Figure 1 shows the experimental arrangement. In this experiment, we use a He-Ne laser oscillating in the TEMoo mode. The wavelength is 0.63 m. The position of the beam waist is located at the output mirror of the...

We demonstrate the use of a double-beam optical tweezers system to stabilize red blood cell (RBC) orientation in the optical tweezers during measurements of elastic light scattering from the trapped cells in an angle range of 5-30 degrees. Another laser (He-Ne) was used to illuminate the cell and elastic light scattering distribution from the single cell was measured with a goniometer and a pho...

Traditionally, Atomic Beam Sources (ABSs) are used to produce targets of nuclear polarized Hydrogen (H) or Deuterium (D) for experiments using storage rings. Laser-Driven Sources (LDSs) o er a factor of 20-30 gain in the target thickness (however, with lower polarization) and may produce a higher overall gure of merit. The LDS is based on the technique of spin-exchange optical pumping where alk...

We demonstrate the generation of a highly polarized soft-x-ray beam with a compact high-repetition-rate tabletop soft-x-ray laser. The radiation emitted by a high-average-power discharge-pumped tabletop Ne-like Ar soft-x-ray laser operating at 46.9 nm was polarized with a pair of Si/Sc multilayer mirrors designed for 45° operation. A degree of polarization greater than 0.96 was obtained. The po...