Investigation of amplitude spatio-temporal couplings at the focus of a 100 TW-25 fs laser

Abstract

We address the on target focal spot spatio-temporal features of an ultrashort, 100 TW class laser chain by using spectrally resolved imaging diagnostics. The observed spatio-spectral images, which we call rotating imaging spectrographs, are obtained single shot to reveal the essential information about the spatio-temporal couplings. We observe nontrivial effects in the focal plane due to compressor defects which significantly affect the maximum on target intensity. This diagnostic might become an essential tool for improving compressor alignment in many upcoming multi-petawatt short pulse laser facilities.